The Lost Hope
by Samantha4800
Summary: Naomi Grimes, daughter of Lori and Rick, older sister of Carl, is battling the new world and just trying to survive. While she is learning to fight and protect herself and the people she loves, she makes friendships she would never imagine possible and finds herself growing closer to a certain Korean. Glenn/OC
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

The harsh summer sun beat down on Naomi Grimes' back as she exited her dirtying Toyota Corolla Sedan. There was no button on the keys to pop the trunk and Naomi had to roughly jiggle the key in the lock to even open it. Despite the fact that it was horribly hot, her car sucked and the luggage that she hauled over her shoulder weighed her down, Naomi was glad to be back home, ecstatic to see her little brother and parents. It had been way too long that she had spent away at college.  
The next two weeks would go pretty quickly.

Walking up the steps that led onto the small patio on the front of the house, Naomi soaked in the differences made to the home during her absence. Hanging plants littered the balcony, some were flowering from the weather and smelt lovely and others just looked aesthetically pleasing and a basketball was sitting in tatters on the padded chairs. Before she could even knock on the door, it swung open to reveal her little brother Carl. He grinned up at her happily, chocolate icing spread over his lips.

"Hey Nay!" He exclaimed, wrapping his skinny arms around her and snuggling his face into her stomach.

She giggled and ruffled his short brown hair playfully before wiping the leftover chocolate off of his lips.

"What have you been eating Carl?" She joked kindly making him grin even more and practically drag her through the door and down the white, family photo corridor and through to the kitchen where the rest of her family was waiting…including Shane, the family friend that had known her when she was just a baby. Her mother, Lori was finishing icing some baked cupcakes while her father, Rick and his best friend, Shane were drinking beers, still dressed in their cops' uniforms.

"Hey sweetie!" Lori exclaimed, dropping the cupcake that she was currently icing onto the cooling rack and rushing over to her daughter to pull into a warm and comforting embrace.

"Hey mom," She sighed contentedly, dropping her bag onto the timber flooring so that she could hug her mother better, because there really isn't anything better than coming home to your family.

After her mothers' nimble hands released her, her father instantly pulled her into a rib-breaking hug. She laughed as he let her go, walking over to Shane who not only worked with her dad, but was a close family friend who practically lived at their house when she was still in school, he also knew both of her parents back when they were in high school. She embraced Shane quickly before grabbing one of the finished cupcakes and licking some of the frosting off of it, an old habit that she had yet to stop.

"How was the drive? It was a little rainy before…was it bad when you were driving?" Rick asked making Naomi roll her eyes.

"Oh come on dad, I know that you guys are like five hundred years old but you're talking about the weather to your only daughter. I am twenty years old! Stop trying to make me old like you guys." She groaned, a cheeky smile spreading over her face.

Rick matched her smile, the two sharing almost identical looks. He approached slowly and picked her up, spinning her around while she yelled at him to put her down. The two had always been close. But the only things they shared were their noses and the same curly hair, everything else she looked like the spitting image of Lori.

"You still think that I'm old?" Rick asked when he finally set her down. Sure, her dads' occupation made sure that he was fit but the way that he spoke, he was playing football back on the high school team.

She and Carl were both laughing and after glancing over at Lori and Shane, Naomi grabbed Carl's hand and her bag, looking at the little boy with a brief smile before finally answering her father's question.

"Yep." She said before turning and running up the stairs, Carl in tow, the boy giggling hysterically, obviously happy that his sister was back to play with him.

"Glad you're back!" She heard Shane call after her from downstairs while she opened the door to her bedroom that she hadn't stepped foot in for close to six months.  
Her bedroom was painted a soft blue, the point was peeling in a large area above her bed where baby stickers once were and that weren't taken off properly that ended up staining the walls. Her dad had promised to repaint when she was eight years old but he never got around to it. To try to hide the marks, teenage Naomi had hung Polaroid pictures of her and her high school friends on some rainbow string around her room. Apart from the photos, the room was empty; the possessions had been transported to her dorm room. Naomi was always reminded about how empty it looked whenever she went home.

With a sigh, she set her bag on the ground and stared rather pitifully at the space that she had disconnected from. It was quite a strange experience really.

"I wanted to play with my cars in here but mom wouldn't let me." Carl said behind her and when she turned to face him she saw that childish pout that he almost always adorned when he didn't get his way.

Naomi let herself laugh and walked over to him, ruffling his hair just the way that he hates it. It was very amusing for her to see her ten-year-old brother moodily fixing his hair after reprimanding her for hurting it in the first place.

"Sorry Carl. To make it up to you, you can get your cars and play in here." She said with a smile.

Carl looked up at her hopefully, still smoothing down stray hairs that stuck up from her attacking it, "Can you play with me?"

With a smile, Naomi nodded, "Sure bud."

Beyond excited, Carl practically skipped out of her room to get his toys and he wasted no time in dragging his box filled to the brim with toy cars and pulling Naomi down to sit next to him on the floor. Laying out all of the cars, Carl told her all of the names of the models and how good each of them apparently would run. It reminded her of when her dad once taught her how to drive and give her tips when she was ready to buy her first car. Though he did do that in a more innocent, childish manner.  
He taught her how to play a game that he had made up all by himself and before Naomi knew it, the sun had begun to sink out of the sky and the two were quickly called down to eat dinner. That both excited and disappointed Carl but his older sister was quick to assure him that they would continue playing after dinner.

Shane had left and they were eating lasagne. Naomi could easily gather that the food was pre-cooked and store bough as no offence but her mother couldn't cook. At all. But Naomi didn't say anything about it because she'd let her mom have that achievement. Plus, it was kind of burnt.

"Everything going good with college? How are your classes?" Her father asked as she took a seat at the dinner table, something that Lori made sure to keep up with every night. To be honest, Naomi was used to sitting on her couch in front of the TV eating pizza with her roommate.

She nodded, taking a sip of water, "Good. Glad to get a break after all of those exams." Her parents nodded with small smiles on their faces and it was the truth because studying ancient and modern history at the same time was extremely challenging.

Carl finished the awkward silence by slamming his cutlery accidentally on his plate. He was practically butchering his lasagne trying to cut it. Yeah, it was pretty burnt.  
That made Naomi laugh and look at her brother lovingly. You'd think that having an nine year age gap with your siblings would make them hate each other, but that only brought her and Carl closer together. To him, she was that cool older influence that would play toy cars with him and buy him ice cream after picking him up from school. They became really close because Rick was always working and Lori was always more protective than loving.

Apologising lowly, Carl looked at Naomi and then down at the food, "Can you cook the pancakes tomorrow? Mom can't cook." He asked as if he was hopeful that his older sister had improved cooking when she was gone.

"I can cook just fine Carl." Her mother defended but was clearly trying to hide her smile by taking a sip of her water.

Naomi giggled at the innocence that Carl had, "I'm definitely not going to be any better. I've lived off of my roommates cooking." She answered honestly. She had relied on Monica's awesome cooking skills to feed her and Naomi didn't know what she was going to do when they both finish college and moved out of their dorm room.

Carl looked over at their father with a hopeful gaze but he shook his head, "Sorry son. I have an early shift tomorrow, but I'll pick up something to eat for dinner."

Lori sent Rick a disapproving look, "I don't think we should be eating fast food, what is that teaching Carl?"

That comment made the whole atmosphere from laid back and happy to annoyed and serious. Tension practically radiated throughout the room. Naomi had forgotten about that. She had forgotten about the snarky remarks and fights that she would walk in on or hears when she was trying to fall asleep.

Naomi knew that they had married pretty young, mainly because her mother had fallen pregnant with her when she was only nineteen-years-old. Naomi was the reason that her parents had gotten married so early. Every year the petty fights get worse and she couldn't help but to feel that she was part of the reason why they constantly fought. She pushed those feelings down and got caught up in her own selfish problems.

Suddenly Naomi had no appetite, she pushed her stained white plate away from her and standing up, pushing the chair that she was sitting on back with a screech, "I'm not really hungry." She murmured, refusing to look at anyone as she excused herself and going back up to her room.

While she lay on her bed she couldn't help but feel that Carl had to deal with that every day. But he was still young and didn't really know that it was that serious. He just believed that that behaviour was normal and that is not okay.

A knock sounded on the door not long after she excused herself from dinner. Before she could answer, the door swung open to reveal Carl standing hesitantly in the doorway. Naomi looked over at him with a weak smile.

"Hey." She muttered, closing the book that she was reading to make him feel more comfortable to approach here.

"Hi," He replied sitting next to her and slapping a comic book that she had brought back for him that afternoon down onto the bed and looked at her with his cute bright blue eyes, "Can you read with me?"

Naomi nodded, regardless of the fact that he was ten years old soon to turn eleven and knew how to read. She knew that he needed comfort from his older sister. The two snuggled in her bed as she read to him, making sound effects and voices, making him laugh, the two completely unaware that their parents stood at her door, watching with smiles both on their faces.

 _Author's Note:_  
 _Hey guys! I'm back! As promised back in December, I have been working on making this story a better one for a few months now and here is chapter one. I am finished writing season one and starting season two, so the updates will be fast!_  
 _I hope you enjoy the first chapter!_

 _Thank you for reading and have a great day!_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

The next fortnight flew by too quickly for Naomi's liking and before she knew it, there was only three days left of her stay at home. Carl was hanging onto her tightly, begging her at every chance he had for her to stay. It almost made her feel guilty with the fact that she was leaving again and Carl had to stay in a negative environment where their parents fought every morning before he had to go to school. He had to go to school with the thought of his parent's marriage on the rocks.

That morning was no different. Naomi woke up to the sound of loud voices downstairs in the kitchen. She groaned, already annoyed by the fact that she was woken up by the arguing of her clearly unhappy parents. She dressed in some high waisted denim shorts, a black and white striped short shirt with some original black converses.  
Walking downstairs, she sat down at the bench-top on one of the barstools, ruffling her younger brothers' hair quickly and grabbing a bowl of Rice Crispi's, pouring some milk in it. Carl was sitting there quietly, obviously upset at his parents childish bickering.

"Sometimes I wonder if you even care about us at all!" Her mother yelled. That comment spoke loud and clear over all of the petty comments made that morning by her parents and it shocked Naomi so much that she dropped her spoon into her soggy cereal with a milky splash.

Standing, Naomi grabbed Carl's arm and slammed her bowl on the table to get her parents attention finally. The two looked at their eldest with wide and fairly guilty eyes. Naomi grasped her little brothers backpack and her car keys, looking over at her parents with disgust.

"I'm taking Carl to school so you two can sort this shit out. I hope you're both happy," She spat while gesturing to a sniffling, clearly upset Carl before storming out, her brother in tow. Naomi made sure to slam the door on the way out.

The drive to the Primary School was short and silent, neither knew what to say and so they both sat in a tense and uncomfortable silence. When Naomi stopped the car in the school drop off area and gently held Carl's arm to make sure that he didn't leave just yet. Sensing that he was still very much affected by their parent's actions this morning, she pulled him into an awkward side hug and just held him there.

"Mum and dad will figure it out. Whatever happens, it won't stay like this forever."

Carl looked over at her with a doubtful expression written all over his face, "What if they just don't love us anymore?"

She winced. No child should ever have to think that way about their parents. It made her feel physically sick. She shook her head adamantly, "They will never stop loving us. Never."

"Promise?"

Naomi forced a smile in order to remain as positive as possible and smoothed out the collar on his shirt, "I promise. Now, go and have fun at school. Put everything that happened this morning behind you and start with a clean slate. I'll be here later to pick you up and we'll go and get something to eat." He grinned back at her, obviously agreeing with her promise of food and then got out of the car, giving her a goodbye wave as he closed the door carefully and ran off to join his friends off in the grounds.

Naomi sighed as she watched him go. Her façade quickly rubbing off as she wondered what to do next, running a hand through her brown curly hair, deep in thought. There was no way that she wanted to go back to the house.

* * *

Shane and Rick sat in their patrol car, eating greasy fries and picking at parts of their extremely cold two were on their lunch break and had insisted on going to this shitty corner store that Naomi had once worked in while she was still at school. The quality had gone downhill since she left but it had become a tradition for the men. At least it was cheap.

"What is the difference between men and women?" Rick asked suddenly, changing the topic from boring work talk.

"This a joke?"

"No," He grabbed the napkin from Shane's outstretched hand to wipe his greasy fingers. "It's a serious question."

Shane huffed and took a second to think before answering, "Never met a woman who knew how to turn off a light. The board thing on the switch only goes one way, on. You know I'm struck blind the second I leave the room. I mean every woman I have ever let have a key I swear to god…come home, house all lit up. My job, you see apparently, because my chromosomes happen to be different is that I've then gotta walk through that house and turn off every single light this chic left on."

"Is that right?" Rick asked, clearly amused.

"Yeah baby mmm. Oh Reverend Shane is preaching to you now baby." The two of them shared a laugh before he went on. "And then, this same chic mind you…she'll bitch about uh, global warming see. See this is when Reverend Shane wants to quote from the guy gospel. Say um, Darlin' maybe you, every other pair of boobs in this planet just figure out that the light switch see goes both ways, maybe we wouldn't have so much global warming."

"You say that?"

"Yeah a uh…polite version. Though, still man that earns me this look of rage and loathing you would not believe. And that's when the exorcist voice pops out. 'You sound just like my damn father! Well always, always yelling about the power bill tells me to turn off the damn lights!"

"What do you say to that?"

"I know what I wanna say. I wanna say that bitch, you wanna tell me that hearing this your entire life you are still too damn stupid to learn how to turn off your light switch. You know, I don't actually say that."

"That would be bad." Rick laughed.

"Yeah I uh, I go with the polite version."

"Very wise."

"Yeah. Very wise." After a moment of silence, Shane turned serious as he faced the man that he considered a brother and asked, "So how's it with Lori man?"

Shane did know that Rick and Lori had been fighting for a long time. Over what, he had no idea but he knew that whatever had been happening was affecting his best friend more than he let on.

"She's good. She's good at turning off lights. Really good. I'm the one who sometimes forgets."

Shane shook his head, "Not what I meant man."

"We didn't have a great night." He relented after some silence.

"Look man I may have uh failed to amuse with my sermon but I did try, you know. Least you could do is uh, speak."

Rick tossed the napkin he held in his hand on top of his burger and looked out at the trees that had been planted to bring more life to the practically deserted gas station that they had stopped at, "That's what she always says – _speak. Speak._ You'd think I was the most closed mouth son of a bitch ever to hear her telling."

"Do you express your thoughts?" He spoke hesitantly. "Do you say your feelings? That kind of stuff."

"Thing is…lately whenever I try everything I say makes her impatient, like she didn't want to hear it after all. It's like she's pissed at me all of the time and I don't even know why."

"Look man that's just shit couples go through yeah it's uh it's a phase."

Rick smiled, knowing what his brother was a flat out lie. "Last thing she said to me this morning, 'Sometimes I wonder if you even care about us at all'. She said that in front of our kids. Naomi had to come home to us fighting, again. She had to take Carl to school because she didn't want him to hear anymore. She's only twenty; she shouldn't be expected to take care of her little brother because her parents are being selfish. And Carl…imaging going to school with that in your head," Rick stopped talking for a few seconds, trying his hardest not to cry. "The difference between men and women…I would never say something that cruel to her and certainly not in front of Naomi and Carl."

Before either men could say something, their radio went off, signalling a code red and that they were needed for further backup. Rick was honestly grateful for the distraction. And just like that, the two went from talking on the talking on the peaceful afternoon that was once Friday to a hectic runaway car chase where Rick would be awake for the last time in the old world.

* * *

Naomi stood in the grounds of the school that she once attended, looking really out of place between all of the soccer moms and brooding dads. She had told Lori that she was picking her brother up and not to worry.  
She was still pissed at her parent's behaviour and really didn't want to see them for a while so she spent her day in the local library and also catching up with a few friends that were in town that she hadn't seen in what felt like years. Thankfully one of her old high school friends agreed to go and pick Carl up from school so that they can take him to get ice cream and talk more. She was just glad that Carl had a distraction.

"I know that look," Candice said breaking the silence finally and looking over at Naomi while brushing her blonde hair out of her face. "You get really quiet. So, are you gonna tell me? Do you miss some really hot boyfriend you managed to reel in…. oh god the asshole dumped you didn't he. I'm going to kill him."

Naomi shook her head, an amused smirk on her face, "No mystery boyfriend. It's my parents, they had a really bad fight this morning, Carl was crying and he hardly ever does that."

Candice touched her arm, smiling slightly, "I'm sorry Hun, parents can be real jerks."

"Yeah tell me about it…I shouldn't be responsible for Carl, I mean what will happen when I go back to Atlanta. Classes and assignments and hard enough, I don't need another thing on my plate. And don't get me started on work. My boss is the biggest bi-" She was cut off by the sound of sirens and turned around in curiosity only to see Shane stepping out of his car and motioning for her to walk over to him. His gaze was solemn.

When they met up halfway, she instantly noticed the sad, respectful gazes of not only Shane, but the rest of the crew that surrounded him. It was then when she knew that something had gone terribly wrong if Shane was there, where was her father? What had happened?

"Is my dad alive? Where is he?" She asked, her voice croaky as she was suddenly overwhelmed by a vast amount of fear.

"He's in surgery." Shane relented, pulling the shaking woman into his embrace.

"Where's mum?"

"She's at the hospital. Said to come and tell you, that you would deal with Carl." Of course her mother would leave the hardest job to her already emotional daughter. That was just like Lori to give Naomi that responsibility.

"How am I gonna tell Carl that our dad was shot?" She cried as the school bell rung, signalling that school was over and soon kids would be filing out desperate to soak up as much of their afternoon as possible. Except Carl would be robbed of that. The school bell was like the end of the hourglass; her time was up and she had no time to make excuses from withholding the truth.

"You don't have to do it alone."

She shook her head, denying Shane's offer, leaving him to walk over to her little brother who looked so happy and carefree. She knew that she was going to be one to burst that bubble.

Carl held up a poster as he approached, grinning from ear to ear, "Naomi look what I have isn't it super awesome? I won it!" Before Carl could go on, Naomi grabbed his hands and crouched down to his level so that she could look directly at him.

"Carl, dads in the hospital. He got shot today." Surprised, Carl started crying, tears streaking down his face and his older sister pulled him into a tight hug, whispering sweet nothings into his ear to attempt to calm him down.

 _Author's Note:_  
 _Updated chapter two in the same day! Hope you guys enjoy this chapter as next chapter is set in the apocalypse again._  
 _The way that I am rewriting this story is to get rid of all of the boring parts that I once wrote in, fixing up all of the spelling and grammar mistakes (because there were a hell of a lot of them to be honest) and creating more character development like there needs to be in a story._

 _I hope that you guys will enjoy this fixed up story more now because I cringe while reading back over what I used to write and put on her it was really bad._

 _Anyway, I hope that you enjoy this new chapter and chapter three will be coming out soon. Have a great day!_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Naomi remembered when the disease became news on the TV. This disease that broke out that doctors had yet to have a vaccine to treat the outbreak with. Apparently it started with a severe cough (one that could be associated with pneumonia), which wasn't good for Naomi as she had a cough and a hoarse voice from screaming and crying back at the hospital. It ended with the affected person dying (being pronounced dead) and then coming back to life only to feast on the living.  
Shane had said that it didn't matter who you were, if the affected person knew you before or didn't, they were going to want to eat you. If you were bit it didn't matter about medical care, you were going to turn into one of them. It was like some sick fucked up cycle that would probably never end.

After it was announced on the news it only got worse. News reporters, government officials had instructed to stay calm and safe indoors. Of course though when you tell people to stay calm they're gonna end up doing the complete opposite. Widespread panic equalled uncountable suicides, survival experts telling people to get out of towns and cities and when people panicked more people got bit, died and rose again but as brain dead freaks.

Maybe the whole thing could have been controlled if people listened and stayed calm. But the disease blew up and became catastrophic.

It was night time when Shane had come barging up to their front door demanding that they let him in. He was holding a shotgun prepared to knock the front door down if they didn't open up. The look on his face was enough to have Naomi scared. He had told them to pack only essentials, that they were getting out of there.

Staying at their house was unsafe. The streets were practically deserted from the living but crowded by the dead. If it was bad at her hometown, Naomi had quite a lot of trouble visualising Atlanta and what that must have looked like. Electricity had cut off day's prior but Shane told them that he heard on his car radio to head to safe havens in Atlanta.  
Now Naomi wondered if that radio transmission had just been played on a loop.

It was there; in the back of her mother's car that Shane had told them that Rick was dead. He had died before Shane had gone to get them. There was no heartbeat. Naomi thought that she had no heartbeat when she heard the news that her father had died.

He was supposed to be there, a supportive shoulder to rely on and to be protected by. And all he was, was gone. Actually dead in some crappy hospital room back home.

That's where Naomi wanted to be. Back home. What she wouldn't do to be back home to play with Carl without feeling sorrow, to listen to her parents aimless and most of the time unresolved fighting and to just be happy again. Happiness was something that died along with her father. If only the bulletproof vest had done it's actual job then maybe things would be different.

Instead she was camping out at some unnamed quarry on the way to Atlanta. Her friends from college and her had planned on going there once but never got around to it.

Naomi was a top the RV that an old man named Dale had brought with him. The man was sweet and polite and often helped Naomi through rough patches. He was actually very wise.  
The view from up there was absolutely breathtaking. The sloping hills of varying colours of green and sparkling magnified crystal colour of the water below were stunning. It was so simple yet so beautiful to view.

"Naaaooommmiii!" A voice yelled from below the RV and she scuttled off of the set up deck chair, books and pens flinging onto the ground and rolling around. Amy, a blonde nineteen-year-old stood at the bottom, hands on her hips and her lips quirked into a sassy smile.

"Yeah?" She asked, sweeping her curly strands of hair behind her ear and smiling back, slightly embarrassed.

"You gonna come swimming? Shane said that it'd be alright," Sensing her discomfort, Amy groaned. "Oh come on! It'll be fun and it's already super-hot today. I don't know about you but I have been sweating so much and I don't wanna stay in these clothes for one more minute!" Amy exclaimed so enthusiastically that it made it hard for Naomi to keep a smile off of her face.

Giving up her stoic persona pretty quickly, Naomi threw her head back and started to laugh, as she was hallway down the little ladder attached to the side of the RV.

Jumping down onto the dusty ground, she threw her arm around Amy's shoulder as the two started walking in the direction of the water below but took a quick detour over to Carl, Sophia, Eliza and Louis who were taking classes out in the blazing hot sun. It was kind of funny that everyone wanted to seek some normality in this crazy new world. Continuing with school work, swimming, to even looking at cell phones that had long since lost connection to the outside world had not ended and that it was going to get better.  
But to Naomi, the world was going to get worse and everyone around her seemed to be in some kind of drunken stupor. The depression that she had acquired after her fathers after her fathers' death had seemed to make her realise the cold hard truth.

Carl looked up from his maths problems and grinned at his older sister and then looking over to their mother who was supposed to be supervising them was actually staring at Shane who sat about ten metres or so away smirking at her.

"What are you doing?" Carl asked, wondering where she was going.

Naomi smiled down at him, "We're going swimming."

"Mom can we go swimming too?" Carl asked hopefully, gaining their mother's attention and she was quick to shoot him and the other hopeful kids down.

"Not today Carl. You still have lessons to do. Focus on what's more important here."

Naomi, while she didn't agree with what her mother said, she nodded her head regardless knowing that it was more mature to keep her mouth shut. Instead, she crouched down and ruffled Carls' hair while smiling comfortingly.

"Don't worry, you'll to go swimming too. I'll go with you soon." She stood up and walked away with Amy, not even bothering to say anything to her mother.

When the two reached the quarry, they started shimmying out of their clothes under the glaring sun.

"It's getting hot in here so let's take our clothes off!" Naomi sung as she slipped the sweaty t-shirt over her head, receiving a giggle from her friend. The two had become good friends, both being around the same age group they tended to stick together and rely on each other for entertainment. There was no more TV or Internet; they had to make do without power.

Piling her clothes into a corner, Naomi grinned at Amy as she walked over to her friend. Amy grabbed her hand excitedly and pulled, the two of them jumping into the water together. The water was warm and surprisingly refreshing and when Naomi came up from the water, Amy who instantly sprung away on her nimble feet before Naomi could retaliate splashed her in the face. Naomi laughed and dived after her, splashing Amy back with a giggle. Lying on her back, she wondered whether or not she would ever get to see the view if the world didn't end up the way it did.

That night around the campfire, Naomi had her first proper conversation with Glenn. The Korean was around the same age as her but had never voiced it before, being very awkward around any girls, whether he was sexually attracted to them or not.  
After swimming in the quarry with Amy, Naomi had gone to get changed into new clothes and then ended up spending the rest of her afternoon keeping Carl company while skimming over a shitty book that Dale had leant her from the limited supply he had stocked in the RV.

Rounding up the children when they were called for dinner, Naomi was sat in the only available place next to Glenn. When she sat down, Shane leant over and handed her a aluminium bowl filled with beans that she would probably never have eaten before the world fell to shit. What she wouldn't do to eat a cheeseburger right now. To her left, Glenn was shifting around awkwardly, not used to being around women.

The campfire was illuminating her face that had started prickling with sweat from the heat plus the fire that everyone but her had agreed to eat dinner. From across the camp, Amy smirked at her, her eyes travelling between Naomi and a fidgeting Glenn. Naomi rolled her eyes at her childish friend and glared at Amy before taking a spoonful of the beans.

While her mother flirted with Shane, Dale conversed with Andrea and Amy, Morales talking quietly with his family and the rest of their group was humming with activity. Naomi looked up from her bowl to see Glenn staring at her.

"I don't think that I'd ever get used to the taste of campfire beans," She said to him softly and he nodded, a ghost of a smile on his lips.

"Yeah, me neither. They just don't taste right. Maybe it's because I've never been camping before."

She smiled and shook her head, pushing the food around the bowl with her spoon, "I was raised in the country but I've never been camping before outside of school."

Blushing furiously, he started to stutter a little, trying to backtrack his words and try to make it sound like he didn't accidentally insult her. Naomi tried to keep it together for long and burst out laughing while gauging his reaction, which made her laugh even harder. She hadn't laughed that much before the world fell to shit. He smiled at her shyly as he ran a hand through his pitch-black hair, releasing a sigh of relief.

There were a few seconds of silence where the two sat comfortably picking at their food, "So…how old are you?" Glenn asked and it reminded her of when she had to make friends back in high school.

"Twenty, soon to be twenty-one. My parents had me young," She answered with a slight giggle. "You?"

"Twenty-three. What did you do? Uh, I mean before everything you know…happened."

Naomi set her bowl down on the ground and looked back up at him, her face sombre, "I was at college studying ancient and modern history and working at a café. That was until my dad got shot…everything just seemed to go downhill after that." She mumbled.

He nodded at her silently, understanding. He had lost contact with his family when the outbreak hit, he doesn't know whether they are still alive or not.  
To Glenn, he lost his life when he watched as people dropped those bombs over the city of Atlanta. His old life was gone. The pizza shop that he used to slave away in to get enough money to pay the rent he was drowned in was gone. The video game shop that he used to obsess over all of the time was gone. His apartment was gone. It felt like he would do anything to go back to the life that he dreamed of escaping.

"Sucks," He whispered, looking down at his hands that were illuminated by the fire.

"Yeah," She stood up and nodded at him. "I'm going to bed. Good speaking to you."

Feeling down and glum about the fact that she was reminiscing over happy memories, Naomi climbed into the tent that she shared with her mother and Carl before anyone was in there. The day had finally taken its toll on her and she didn't even bother to change clothes before flopping onto her sleeping bag and closing her eyes.

 _Author's Note:_  
 _Back at it with Chapter Three. This is when the apocalypse does happen._

 _Hope you enjoyed. Thank you for reading and have a great day_.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

After the night that Naomi talked to Glenn, the two had gotten pretty close over the last couple of weeks; they were around the same age. Amy always commented on how much she was third wheeling and that always ended up with Glenn's face turning into a beetroot and Naomi actually choking on her food and then playfully, but sort of angrily slapping her blonde friend.  
Plopping down next to Naomi and Amy at lunch, Glenn ruffled her curly hair, pulling pieces of hair out of her greasy bun that sat atop of her head.

"Asshole," She laughed, swatting at his hands as he tried to take her can of the mixed beans away from her.

"Oh but you love me!" He exclaimed jokingly as he picked up his half of the can and spooned a bit of the lukewarm substance into his mouth. Amy from next to them almost choked on her food as she tried her hardest not to laugh at the Koreans hopeless flirting.

Before Naomi could think of a witty reply, Amy butted in even more as she leant in between the two of them while wiggling her eyebrows suggestively making Naomi roll her eyes in annoyance, "Sorry to interrupt you two lovers but Carol, Jacquie and I are going to do the laundry after lunch, do you wanna help or are you doing something else?"

Naomi remembered back to the other day when Glenn made her a bet that she would help fix the RV with him and Dale. She knew that he made her do it because he wanted to make fun of her when she didn't know how to do anything revolving mechanics. It was actually a pretty good bet because she was learning practical things on how to look after mechanics in a vehicle and she got to miss out on doing the laundry. It was honestly a win-win situation.

Looking over at her friend, she shook her head, "Sorry. I'm helping with the RV today," Amy looked slightly disappointed but nodded anyway, going to join her sister on the other side of the camp, obviously trying to rope her into doing housework.

Glenn looked happy that she chose to spend her afternoon with him so that he could laugh at her limited knowledge on mechanics but didn't voice anything, just smiled at her when they made eye contact.

"Okay…I get that but what happens if the battery runs out all together and you can't repair it?" Naomi asked Dale, biting her lip as she looked down at all of the complicated engine parts that all had names she couldn't quite remember.

They had been out there for a few hours, Dale, the old man with quirky shirts and a fisherman's hat that looked like it had never been washed before in its life had been passing his wisdom on to them. Glenn had been listening intently and soaking all of the facts up in his mind while everything that Naomi had been told had gone in one ear and out the other quicker than the speed of light. She was having trouble deciphering which ones where the brake and accelerating cables and they were different colours. Apparently that was supposed to be one of the easiest things to do.

Dale smiled at the simple question, "Well then you might need this," He told her, leading both Naomi and Glenn around to the steps of the RV, opening a hatch that neither knew had existed. Inside revealed a new, untouched battery that he must of stored in there. Dale looked at them like he was teaching a class while he said in a stern voice, "But if you can fix it, fix it. Keep this one for emergencies only."

"If you're having so much trouble all the time why don't you just change the battery?" She asked, obviously very confused, Dale and Glenn chuckled, sharing a look.

"Because the problem that we have has to do with this pipe," He said pointing to a pipe that the majority was covered in duct tape. "Not the battery."

Naomi sighed and face-palmed, feeling rather stupid, "Okay, okay, I'll remember where the battery is but you've just confused me beyond belief."

"Well the only thing that you need to remember is if this baby doesn't start you just tap it twice and-"

"Give it a little twist, yeah we both know," Glenn finished, making Dale smile happily in result and nod.

"Yeah you've got it down son."

The afternoon seemed to roll on forever and Naomi could feel the heat actually start to melt her. After getting roped into going swimming with Amy again, dinner was practically ready. It was a steady cycle of boringness. They were secluded at the quarry, that not even walkers had dared to ventured up the mountains. Glenn had told her that they were all attracted to Atlanta. He didn't know why though.

Naomi had actually managed to get Glenn to help her and Amy wash the dishes which was the first time since they set up camp and by the time she was finished washing up she bid her goodbyes to her fellow friends and made a move to the family tent to go to sleep. It was dark, almost pitch black, the only thing that was illuminating the grounds was the soft glow of the campfire and the very dim camping lamp that Dale had leant them. Naomi kept her footsteps quiet and focused as she made her way to the tent because she knew that her mom had put Carl to bed straight after dinner.  
A gasp escaped past her lips as she saw the sight in front of her. Lori and Shane stood together outside of their tent. His hands were groping at her body in a hungry manner while her mothers were simply laced loosely around his neck. Their lips were locked together in a way that Naomi only wanted to see happen with her father. The piece of jewellery that adorned her mother's ring finger on her left hand bound her to her husband and there she was making out with his best friend only weeks after he had passed. It was ridiculous and as much as the twenty-year-old wanted so desperately to look away she couldn't stop staring. It was like a car crash, no one could look opened her eyes after a second of being in comfortable bliss and through the firelight, Lori found that her daughter was looking at them. Her eyes were wide with deceit. She could see it through the red of the fire. It actually scared her.

The mother sprang away from Shane quickly as if he was wildfire and looked after her daughter who didn't know what to do. She looked like a deer in headlights.  
Naomi had known Shane since she was a baby, some of her earliest memories had him there. How could he do that to his best friend?

With guilty eyes, Shane stepped forward and held her at shoulder length, trying to gauge her reaction to the situation. Naomi, angry and hurt shrugged out of his loose grasp.

"Hey Na-" He started with a soft tone of voice trying to calm her down as he was used to doing in his career but she cut him off roughly.

"No Shane fuck off! I can't believe you! I can't believe either of you!" She hissed in a deadly voice that resembled her father so much it was almost uncanny. She was keeping her voice down because she didn't want to wake Carl and bring him into the drama that their mother had created. He wouldn't be able to deal with that.

Naomi pushed him in the chest a couple of times in order to prove how heartbroken she was feeling in that moment. She brushed past him, tears now freely streaming down her cheeks like cascading waterfalls. She didn't even bother to look back at her mother as she walked away.

Naomi sat on the edge of the forest, just in view of the person on watch which was most probably Dale. Her emotions were piling up on herself and she was finding it a little hard to deal with all of them at once. Life wasn't so simple anymore.

She missed her father. He was someone that she needed at that moment. She missed calling him on weekends to vent about her life on campus, missed hearing his voice and seeing his face. It was hard for her to remember what he looked like, even though her mother had a stash of photo albums in her tent. There was absolutely no way that she was going into that mess. She was staying well away from her mother, she actually had no clue for how long.

Standing up from her crouching position, she wiped the drying tears from her face as well as she could. She couldn't go back to her family's tent. Naomi needed someone by her side, to hug her and wipe away her tears and comfort her when she was sad.

She felt so humiliated that she hadn't figured it out sooner. How could she have not seen the signs before? How could Naomi not have noticed the cheeky smirks thrown at each other from behind her back, the disappearing for hours at a time. Words couldn't describe how stupid Naomi felt.

Naomi trudged as quietly as possible to the RV, hoping that the lights were still on so that Amy or Andrea, or maybe even Dale could open the door for her and let her in with open arms. But all that she saw was darkness. Feeling lost, Naomi turned back to the line that the tents sat on. She knew which one was Glenn's and she walked over to it. Standing in front of the tent, Naomi's voice was weak as she stalled on calling out to him and she had to brace herself for a second.

"…Glenn?" She asked, making him know that she was there, not some walker that's role was to tear the living flesh off of him. She stood out there patiently and nervously, hearing him shuffle around and then pulling the zipper down to reveal a sleepy looking Glenn.

He looked at her for a couple of seconds, taking in her scared, shaken face, his expression instantly softening as he let her inside the tent, his lantern shadowing her face, making his look strangely mysterious. Naomi's calmness had instantly faded and she became a bubbling mess, tears streaming down her face, shoulders shaking and snot falling off her nose.

"Hey…" He said quietly, bringing her into his arms securely, his face buried into her hair. After a couple of minutes of full on sobbing, Naomi quieted down and just rested her head softly on his shirt clad shoulder.

He pulled away and looked into her coffee coloured eyes sadly, grasping her shoulders, "Hey…Naomi, what's wrong?"

Sniffling, Naomi looked down at her shoes, "Umm…my mum is sleeping with my dad's best friend and I didn't know. How did I not know that my mother is sleeping with them? How could I have not have noticed? I miss my dad so much. It's all so hard-"

She was cut off by Glenn tilting her chin up to see her face, "It will get better. It will, it has to. And just giving up is weak. People here care about you, you have family."

Feeling a little more optimistic over the pep talk, Naomi suddenly felt awkward that she had just wiped her snotty nose all over him when he hugged her. The two of them just stood there for a few seconds, not really knowing how to approach the situation.

Clearing her throat, Naomi looked into his grey eyes, "Can I stay here tonight? I don't really feel like being alone tonight."

He nodded quickly, "Yeah of course. I'll just sleep over here," He said, gesturing to the other side of the tent with no cot or sleeping bag. She shook her head, not wanting him to give up his bed for her seeing as she was the one that put them in that situation in the first place.

"No we could probably just stay together for the night, that would be fine."

Glenn slipped back into the cot, lying right on the edge of the cot so that Naomi could slip in as well. For a second, Naomi just stood there. She didn't have her pyjamas to change into and she felt uncomfortable not sleeping in the clothes that she was wearing so the only thing that Naomi did was take her shoes off. Turning off the lamp, she lay down next to him. The two ended up sleeping next to each other awkwardly but fit together almost perfectly.

 _Author's Note:_  
 _Hey guys, chapter four is here! Hope you enjoy!_  
 _Thank you for favouriting/following on my changed story! Thanks for reading and have a great day._


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

When Glenn woke up the following morning he didn't expect to see Naomi still curled up next to him. Letting out an almost frustrated sigh, Glenn flopped back onto the cramped cot and ran a hand over his face. His reaction must've been loud because he heard her stir. Groaning slightly as she came out of sleep and Glenn waited awkwardly as she figured out where she was. There was something about Naomi that Glenn found intriguing. She had become one of the closest of friends to him. Probably even more than any of his friends before the world went to shit.

Sitting up silently, Naomi looked around until she froze when her eyes landed on Glenn. He sat up, feeling equally as awkward as Naomi did.

"Hey…" He said as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

She looked over at him, "Hi," She replied, running her hands through her now knotty matted hair, trying to untangle it before giving up and just pulling it up into a ponytail. She then groaned and crawled over to the mesh screen to see that people were already out and sitting around the unlit campfire, probably wondering where they were. It wouldn't look very good if they both just walked out of there.

"Shit…they're all out there. What's the time?" Glenn shrugged in answer, himself having no idea.

"This is going to be so awkward. Everyone will think that we've…oh and your mum!" Glenn complained as he pulled the shirt that he slept in over his head and replacing it with a slightly cleaner one from his pack. His baseball cap went straight on his head afterwards.

"But we didn't so we shouldn't have to feel weird about sleeping in the same tent. Two people of different genders can sleep in the same room without it meaning anything sexual." She rambled on nervously, standing up and slipping on her grey converses that had seen better days, smoothing out her clothes self-consciously.

Naomi sighed, "I've gotta go and get changed but you should go eat breakfast…save me some too," She added on anxiously, waiting for his nod of approval before she slipped out of the tent that was beginning to heat up from the rising sun and scampering over to her family's tent.

After tidying up his space, Glenn exited the tent and made his way over to Dale who smiled knowingly despite the fact that the Korean was death staring him.

"Before you ask nothing happened. She just stayed with me last night," Glenn instantly defended himself, stopping Dale in his tracks from saying anything even though the man looked unconvinced.

Dale rose his hands up in a non-threatening posture, looking surprised by the sudden outburst from a man that wasn't really confrontational on anything.

Glenn sighed, feeling embarrassed for his choice of words and barking at the old man. He mumbled an apology and made his way past him, pulling his cap down over his head firmer as he walked over to where breakfast was being served. Glenn didn't know why he was being so jumpy over nothing, he felt as if he was constantly on edge at the moment. It was a strange feeling to him as he knew that they were safe up in the retreat of the mountains. When Naomi finally came out of her tent Glenn was already hallway through chomping at his muesli bar. He looked up in time to see her brushing off her mother and directed her route over to where he sat by himself. She looked slightly annoyed as she refused to face her guilty mother. Sensing the unease, Glenn reached down and picked up the other bar that he had taken.

"Thanks," She grumbled, ripping the soft plastic off and taking a bite. Glenn then realised with a small smile that she was definitely not a morning person.

It was crazy how much Glenn had learnt about Naomi over the last couple of weeks. He learnt that she absolutely hated black beans and would rather be situated away from people than be the centre of attention, that she's allergic to strawberries and had quite the few light scars from her days trying to teach herself to skateboard. Those tiny details that had made Glenn want to know more about Naomi and who she once was before the outbreak. Those small points were some type of normality that he had been seeking without actually admitting to it.

The silence stretched out between them but it wasn't awkward. They were both just enjoying each-other's company. The two quiet people in camp could actually be near people and not have to talk. Glenn liked that. It felt as if there were no pressure to talk to Naomi herself and there was no pressure when they did talk, it was like anything subject matter that the two brought up were interesting to one another. Glenn didn't know how many times he mentioned Pokémon playing cards to her. It must have been a lot. But for the first time Glenn didn't feel like he was saying the wrong thing being nerdy around her; maybe she liked it he had no idea.

The crumbling of the wrapper in Naomi's hand drew his attention to her instantly and she stood up from her seat, hair flowing down her back from the messy ponytail. The morning light shone through it, making her dark hair glisten to an almost blonde and her cheekbones more prominent in the light. She looked like an angel and he had to look away for a second because he didn't want her to catch him with his mouth open. She surprised him by grabbing the rubbish out of his open palm and a spark of energy ran up his hand. Glenn wondered if Naomi felt it as well.

"What are you going to do today?" Glenn asked as she was just about to walk away.

She shrugged, "Stay away from my mum at all times to avoid any awkwardness," She states bluntly, leaving no room for argument as she brushed past and joined Amy, Andrea, Jacquie and Carol with hustling the big baskets of dirty clothing to the quarry.

Glenn sighed and wiped the already appearing sweat from his forehead and made his way over to Dale, Morales and Jim. He hoped that the problems that she was having with her mum would solve because he couldn't bear to see her avoid someone when the world that they are in is so undecided and anything could happen in any moment. Though it wasn't his area to pry in. He couldn't change it.

Meanwhile the women sat in their usual spot by the quarry, they were all finishing washing the small daily load of clothes and ready to string them up to dry in the heat. It was silent and peaceful but none of them could seem to get over the fact that Ed, the husband of Carol was sitting and watching over them. It was like an invasion of personal space. It almost felt like they weren't allowed to talk. Like they were on a shift at a work where they would get in trouble if they were to say one word to each other. Naomi kept bumping elbows with Amy because why couldn't she? She was allowed to have fun and to be completely honest, she wanted to take her mind off of things. While they weren't talking to each other, Naomi would have to admit that they were slowing down the process of the washing but it wasn't hurting anyone. It did seem to annoy Ed though and it was pretty obvious that he was tutting away in the corner.

"Hurry up ladies. Day's a-wasting," Ed called out and Andrea, Amy and Naomi rolled their eyes at his bossing around. It wasn't like he was getting up off of his arse and working as well.

Just as Andrea was about to get up to stand up to Ed, Carol, his extremely quiet and drawn in wife grabbed her arm. She silently shook her head, begging her not to do or say anything to piss him off. It was as if she was terrified of anyone standing up to him and Naomi felt sick. It was quite obvious that she was scared of him and that he was abusive. Naomi longed to put him in his place desperately.

It didn't take them long to finish up and with a couple boxes filled with wet and clean clothes and the group of women stood and made their way back up to camp to hang up for drying. Naomi made an effort to walk past Ed with her head held high. She didn't have that much of a backbone to look him in the eyes and the thought of it made her spine tingle. She would much rather team together with people and solve the issue that way than do it by herself. Plus, he could easily overpower her as she was pretty weak in the wake of the new world.

* * *

Their day droned on in the heat and no one really knew what to do after their daily chores were completed they just sat around and most pretended to do something just so they wouldn't become bored by the constant boring tasks that they undertake day after day. The heat was getting to all of them at that moment and they all slumped around during the cooking of dinner. Once again, they sat around the lit fires that drew sweat from everyone's pores and picked at their cans of smoked food with distaste. Everything was the same. Shane interrupted the cycle from going in its full loop by standing up in front of the group who gave him their full attention like little school kids.

"Everybody, Glenn here's making a run into Atlanta tomorrow and we need some people to back him up. Not too many we still need people at home base but help will be needed."

Naomi was shocked as she looked over to Glenn with wide eyes and he instantly diverted his attention back over to Shane. He felt guilty that he didn't tell her beforehand. They had spent all of that afternoon together just talking and keeping each other company instead of hiding away in their tents like most seemed to do. It had been such a quiet afternoon that Glenn didn't want to drop the news on her when it felt so peaceful for once. It seemed so settled and right so Glenn carried the heavy brick around in his stomach until Shane decided to drop the news. He was secretly glad when it was talked about because then he didn't have to carry the weight in his stomach any longer.

"I'll go," Andrea said from her spot in between Amy and Dale and they looked at her with surprise clear on their faces.

Amy shook her head adamantly, "But you can't go. We don't know what might happen out there!"

Andrea smiled down at her little sister and slinked a comforting arm around Amy's shoulders and squeezed, "I'll be alright. I want to do this," She told them all but directing most of her attention to her scared sister who leaned into her embrace.

Shane nodded at her gratefully. Theodore Douglas to insisted to be referred to as T-Dog rose his hand with a firm look on his face, the man who was the epitome of a teddy bear was showing his strong side. Jacquie, much to some people's surprise, rose her hand with a wistful smile. Naomi knew how strong and smart Jacquie was and so she just had to smile at her selflessness in that moment. That woman was awesome, plus she knew her way around Atlanta like the back of her hand.

It didn't take everyone long to finish their dinner and decide that it was time to retire to their tents to sleep. And after Naomi finished disposing of her rubbish, she walked over to Glenn who had been awkwardly waiting by his tent. He was wondering whether or not she was going to be staying with him that night and if she wasn't he could just pretend that he was doing something else. Flawless plan.

When he realised that she next to him, he coughed and fiddled with his cap that was in his grasp and kicking at the dirt with his sneakers, "What's up?" He asked, trying to sound nonchalant but then wanted to face palm at what he said.

Luckily, Naomi thought nothing of it and said what she wanted to say since it was announced by their leader that there was a run about to go on.

"I want to go with you."

With wide eyes, he stood up straighter and looked at her, "No. No way. You have to stay here. It's dangerous out there," He didn't know why he felt protective over her all of the sudden but he did and he was standing by what he said with a firm shake of his head.

In that moment he became confused on whether or not he saw her as just a good friend or wanting something more.

She was also confused but for a different reason and that was why he was so against her trying to go out there and learn. To adapt properly in the new world. It made Naomi wonder why he was acting the way that he was.

"If you say that it is so dangerous then why are you risking your life? I can't lose you. You're my best friend," Naomi was close to tears, feeling pretty emotional and almost trapped where she was. Glenn sighed for what felt like the millionth time that day alone and pulled her into his arms, resting his head on her shoulder and breathing in deeply to calm himself as well. It was strange that just one single comment changed the way that he thought about the run.

"I'm going to come back. I'm not dying. I've done this before. In and out, like always," He comforted and felt slightly relieved when she nodded against his chest before pulling away. He was greeted with a strange absence that he wasn't used to when finishing a hug.

She smiled softly up at him before completely taking him off guard by punching his arm playfully and the action made him snort. The atmosphere seemed to lift and it became way more light hearted than it previously was.

"Bring me back something awesome then. You have to make up for the fact that you're leaving me here while you go and play hero," She said, turning to leave before her shoulders straightened and she remembered something else that she had to inform him about. "Oh right. I'm staying with you tonight again. I want to be near you before you leave."

He nodded with a smirk curling on his lips, illuminating the whiteness of his teeth in the moonlight. Naomi took a slight detour while Glenn waited in his tent while she went to her family's tent to grab a few things. Upon entering, Carl shot up from his spot in his sleeping back and hugged her, his little arms winding around her tightly. She couldn't help but smile and wrap her arms around her brother as well. Sometimes Carl was just too cute. After telling her little brother to get back into bed, she turned to face her mother who was standing near her own bed with surprise clear on her features.  
Naomi cleared her throat awkwardly and nodded at her mum who nodded back; not really knowing how to approach the situation even though she just wanted to hug her daughter.

"Umm, I'm just getting some stuff. I'm staying with Glenn tonight," She said and then her eyes widened when she realised that what had just come out of her mouth sounded really bad. Even her mother raised an eyebrow at her. "Not like that! We're just friends and I'm crashing there for a bit."

Her mother frowned and motioned at their surroundings, "There's plenty of room here."

"I know, it's just that I need my own space…and I need my own time to process things," She told Lori and her eyes expressed it all.

Lori felt her heart drop. Of course all of the acting out must have been because of their father. It only just clicked then as she saw her daughter's expression. The desperation in her eyes. She never thought that her own relations with Shane would impact her that much. She couldn't believe that she didn't even bother to think about what it would do to her kids; she was just acting on her own selfish terms. She was only acting on what she needed to feel. Lori felt sick and she looked over to Carl, her baby boy who was staring at the two of them with curious eyes. Oh that boy was forever learning. Lori didn't even know whether or not she actually wanted a relationship or if she just needed a distraction. She did lose her husband after all. It didn't matter that they fought a lot before his accident; she still loved him with all of her heart. But she loved her kids more and she saw what her checking out did to them. Lori knew that she had to change her ways if she wanted to keep her kids.

Shaking her head, Lori crossed the small tent to where her daughter stood rubbing at her arm, a nervous twitch that she always had. In a matter of seconds, Lori had gathered Naomi in her arms and hugged her so hard hoping to convey just by the action that she realised her faults.

"I'm sorry," She whispered into her ear and Naomi nodded, feeling slightly better about the situation. "I know that you need your time so take as much of it as you need."

"Ok," Naomi whispered back. "Thank you."

Naomi didn't waste time packing her stuff and Lori even helped, smiling over at her children that were forever growing and she left with a chest that was much lighter, some of the weight that had dawned it lifted like a puff of smoke after the confrontation from Lori.

Entering the tent that she was now sharing with Glenn, she grinned at him. He looked at her strangely for a second before realising that she must have talked to her mother about her problems and that made him smile as well.

Glenn's eyes narrowed in to look at the title of the book that she had manoeuvred from under her arm to the floor, "What are you reading?" He asked, feeling stupid even though he could clearly read the title himself.

She down at him from her position and then down to the book that she had dropped with a shrug, "Just some book that Dale leant me. It's pretty bad though so I wouldn't read it if I were you," She warned, with the clothes that she was to sleep with in hand and then averted her attention back to him. "Okay turn around or close your eyes or something. I'm going to change now."

He covered his eyes with his hands and didn't even bother to make conversation at that point, just staying silent until she told him that he could open his eyes just a couple of minutes earlier. He was surprised at how quickly she changed as his sisters used to take at least fifteen minutes when he used to live with his family. Naomi wiggled into her sleeping bag and then provided Glenn with a tight lipped smile.

"Night Glenn."

"Night Naomi."

With that, Glenn rolled over and wasted no time in falling asleep as he would have a big couple of days ahead of him. Naomi waited until she heard his breathing even out until she managed to drift off into dreamland.

The next morning travelled by rather quickly as everyone was busy trying to cement things for the run while saying goodbye to one another. It was pretty hectic. Glenn actually ended up waking Naomi up. She sat up, rubbing at her eyes tiredly and groaning until she realised where she actually was. For a moment she seemed embarrassed but then she looked up at him and a different expression on her face that Glenn couldn't read. After getting ready for the day, the two both went on with their morning and completing the jobs that needed to be done. A nervous tinge rang in the air though that everyone tried to ignore it.

"Good luck," Naomi said one last time for the next couple of days, she tried to say it as often as possible to Glenn because she wouldn't see him for a bit. But only a bit after he promised her that he would be back. She brought Glenn in for a hug, squeezing his body against hers as he did the same with her slim body.

Glenn breathed in the scent of her newly washed hair and murmured back to her softly, "Don't worry about me. And hey, I'll even bring you back something."

She laughed and shook her head, "Yeah you better bring me back something. I think I might go mad here in this spot. I haven't been anywhere other than here and the quarry since we got here. I'm jealous of you."

While Glenn was getting to go out and do something, he did understand how she was beginning to go stir crazy in the area. He got it. Maybe when he got back he would take her anywhere but the city. It was far too dangerous and unpredictable.

Naomi smiled but before she could say anything else, Merle Dixon strutted into camp mumbling about how the two should just fuck already.

The Dixons were the typical rednecks of Georgia. They looked like they were ready for the outbreak long before it actually ended up happening. Merle was a loudmouth, drug using arsehole. Daryl, his younger brother, just sticks to hunting and brooding quietly. Naomi had only saw the younger brother a couple of times when he distracts an obviously high Merle from scaring the kids. And Merle only came into their camp if he was high off his kite or if he wanted to demand something. Naomi guessed that he was going on the run. She was confirmed when he parked his arse in the front passenger seat of one of the cars.

Glenn sighed with nerves running through his veins at the racist Dixon that always seemed to make comments about his skin colour. He had never seen anything like it. Naomi grabbed at his arm, understanding how the man made him feel uncomfortable and tried to divert his attention to loading their bags in the back of the cars; helping out Andrea and Jacqui.

"Why is Dixon in there?" Andrea asked while looking at Merle who was sat with his feet up on the dashboard with a hard expression practically glued to her face.

"Shane's making him come," Glenn recalled, remembering the conversation that the two had had that morning.

Naomi couldn't help but smile when Jacquie groaned and she leant over to pat the older lady's arm sympathetically. At least that was one positive of staying back at camp. Jacquie forced a smile back at her and then pulled Naomi into a hug which she just couldn't resist to comply with. Laundry was going to be pretty boring without two of her laundry buddies and she couldn't help but to wish them luck once again. She hoped that they would return back to camp on time and unscathed. Naomi didn't want to say goodbye to anymore people when they died.

Naomi followed after Glenn as he made his way to his seat in one of the cars, the two walking side by side casually.

"I don't know why Jacquie wants to come. She hardly speaks a word in camp."

"Neither do you," Naomi said cheekily, elbowing him gently in the side. "Plus she knows the city like the back of her hand. She used to be a city planner before all of this," She laughed at his expression and poked at her chest proudly. "See, I know things. Beat that."

Glenn shook his head though he was smirking. He pulled Naomi in for one last hug, making mental notes of how she felt wrapped up in his arms and making sure to remember them as he didn't know how long they would be gone if he were being completely honest. He only told Naomi that they would be back in two days so that it would be easier for them to leave. In all honesty, it would probably be a few days at least. The city is dangerous and they have to do the run carefully and take it step by step.

As Glenn got into the backseat of the car, the first thing that he did was wind down the window. Leaning out of it, he rolled his eyes to Naomi at Merle as she handed him some of their rations.

"Be careful and don't let this arsehole get to you guys and get back soon."

With a sigh, Glenn nodded, his head popping back into the car as Merle exclaimed, "Why don't you guys just fuck already. This sexual tension is fucking killing me."

While Merle continued to complain, Naomi just rolled her eyes and stepped back, letting the cars drive away. She waved with Amy, Dale and Shane until they could no longer see them and they went on with their day. She spent a while talking about mechanical stuff with Dale and Jim. Well, they were talking and she was listening dumbly. Nodding along even though she didn't know what they were talking about. Dale knew this and continued to talk though smirking at her occasionally. Jim was also catching on and the two started talking about things that didn't exist just to wind her up and when she caught on. Naomi flipped them off and stormed off though it was quite obvious that she wasn't angry. The two were laughing to each other as she went to play cars with her younger brother.

Carl was only allowed to pack a few cars to take with him. He only took a choice few after Lori promised him that they were going to go back to their house after it all cleared over and he would have all of his cars. Naomi hoped that he was now beginning to understand that they probably weren't going to go back to the house. While disappointed, he seemed to make the most of the situation and played with his cars in the dirt for as long as possible until his heart's content.

Though that day, while he was happy that his older sister took the time to play with him, he got bored. That day he was more interested in rounding up the rest of the children his age to play tips. Naomi watched him go and was glad that he made new friends to hang out with and pass the time with. She was glad that he wasn't finding it bored and was actually enjoying his time. Apparently it was like a hug holiday that he didn't want to end.

"Well…you know, without the walkers or anyone getting hurt," He had said and the innocence of his comment made her smile. She wished that she could be that way. It made Naomi realise how young he really was. How much he had to learn.

Naomi spent the rest of the day completing the cycle that they were stuck in. Help do the laundry, hang it up and trying not to let the irritating yet somewhat intimidating presence of Carol's husband get to her and then help the rest of the women cook dinner which would be eaten and then they would all turn in. The exact same thing day after day just got a little bit repetitive.

Though she did decide to go and have a bit more imagination during the afternoon. She had actually been the one that time to convince Amy to go swimming in the quarry. Since the moment that Andrea left on the supply run, Amy had turned into a ball of anxiety. Naomi had seen nothing like it. Though she did want to help out by trying to distract her. That didn't seem too hard. The whole time in the water, Amy continued to talk about how much she was worried about everyone in Atlanta and how much she was afraid that Andrea may not make it back.  
Amy was close to tears. Naomi had never seen her friend get so worked up about someone's safety before and instead of splashing her with a face full of the warm quarry water like she had intended to distract her with, she pulled her friend into a hug. It was awkward, and their hair both seemed to tangle together from being drenched in the quarry's water, but at the same time Naomi knew that she had fulfilled what she needed; to make her friend feel better in a bad situation.

"I just…Andrea and I haven't been this far away from one another since we came here. I can't lose her now," Amy said with a sigh to which Naomi could completely understand. She herself hadn't been that far away from Carl since they arrived at the quarry. Feeling separation anxiety would probably be a really natural thing.

"I get that. But Glenn promised me that he would get everyone home safe. And he won't break his promises."

Amy looked over to her friend that was floating on her back, face just staring up at the beautiful sun that was beginning to set and was tinting the sky an orange colour, "How can you be so sure that he will get them out?"

Naomi shrugged though her balance in the water still remained, "Because he promised me. We know him. He's smart and strong. Underrated. We just have to trust that he will get them out. Because he's more than damn capable of it!"

"Okay," Amy said with a slight giggle. The trust that Naomi had for that guy was almost unbelievable.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

The next day and a half seemed to fly by so quickly that it took Naomi a while to realise that it was actually a Wednesday and when she did she realised just how much time became non-existent to her. No longer did Naomi stare at the clock on her wall and wonder how much longer she would have to go before the tasks that she had set for herself would be over. The only concept of time was when the sun rose and set. There was something almost freeing about that. She didn't have to conform into the real world life anymore; Naomi could just be. That was one of the good things about the world ending. That, and most days she got to sleep in.

"Funny how time flies when you're doing work," Amy had grunted when her friend mentioned how fast the days were moving past them.

Naomi couldn't help but to chew her lip, a nervous twitch and tap at her leg whenever she was with Amy at that moment. It became increasingly hard for her to stay positive about the run team when all she had was Amy constantly in her ear saying that things had gone wrong. The blonde was just a ball of stress in the last few days. It felt like walking on eggshells around her; as if one wrong word of encouragement would tip her over the edge. Naomi got it though. It wasn't like she would be as cool as a cucumber if it were her brother out there. She wasn't feeling that great with her best friend Glenn being out there but there wasn't really much that she could do about that.

As the day of Wednesday continued to roll on, Naomi found herself sitting in the dirt and playing with her brother. She sought a distraction, something that she didn't have to think about or try to do something to make better. That was exactly what it was like playing with her little brother. Mindless pushing around of toy cars. How Naomi longed for the return of her childhood innocence. Maybe that would help to shield her from the horrors of the new world the way that it seemed to do with Carl. Either way, it was fun to just do something and forget about all of their problems. That was until they just decided to follow you around until you had to address them head on. Fortunately, they hadn't caught up to her just yet. She was successfully distracting herself from the put of worry that was trying its hardest to suffocate her.  
Usually Morales' children and Sophia would play with Carl but Miranda wanted her kids close without her husbands' presence which was understandable. Carol wouldn't allow Sophia to play because the mother was black and blue from her arsehole of a husband. Naomi had noticed the rush that Carol possessed when pulling on her cardigan. She had seen the marks that marred her arms and undeniably other places as well.

While it made her sick that it was happening, there wasn't much that she could do. Naomi wasn't strong, she couldn't handle that. She wondered why Shane or any of the other strong people that lived in their camp wouldn't do anything about it. It wasn't as if it were hidden behind closed doors. It was quite obvious and yet Naomi felt paralysed by her own selfish fears to do anything about it.

Nevertheless, this left Naomi to entertain her brother, which she really didn't mind at all. She loved her brother and his company so much and would spend all day with him if she wasn't expected to pitch in and contribute to the running of the camp.

Lori had disappeared into the woods while telling the members of the camp that she was out looking for mushrooms. While Naomi had the task of keeping her brother occupied, their mother had the hard job of trying to distract Amy. The only way that she could seem to make her do that was by saying that they would make soup for lunch. And because Amy's second favourite soup was mushrooms, Lori set out to find some in the forest. There was bound to be some there. Her absolute favourite was lentil soup but seeing as there was no way that they would be able to get lentils from the forest; they had to go with her second.  
It was a nice thing Lori was doing, her maternal instinct was kicking in and without Andrea there she had seemed to take Amy under her wing. That was something that Naomi admired about her mother, while she may get side-tracked occasionally, she always came back to her kids. She was almost always there for them.

Though as Naomi watched her go, she couldn't help but feel as if her mother wasn't just venturing out into the unknown dangerous forest for some mushrooms. She had been having a conversation of looks with Shane and he had gone out not five minutes before. Naomi knew what was happening and anger was silently bubbling up in her chest. She tried to keep it down but it was there. Her father was dead and she didn't want anyone to take his place in their lives. Anyone.

It was nothing against Shane, she just didn't think that she could deal with a replacement father figure that was also fucking her mum. She understood how much her mum missed her husband but it didn't make it right. At least now she was being more discreet and mindful about the situation. At least now there would be less of a chance that Carl would find out and snap. The boy was already fragile enough. He didn't need anything more added onto it. And Naomi wouldn't be able to live with herself if she contributed to his pain.

Impatient of waiting for Lori to come back, Amy stood up from her spot near the pot of boiling water over the campfire and walked to Naomi and Carl.

"It's late, they should have been back by now!" She exclaimed, looking down at Naomi expectantly to which she sighed.

Amy was right, they were definitely supposed to be back by now but what was she to do? It wasn't like she could see into the future and reassure everyone that they were alright and were safe. There was nothing that she could do, she was once again a sitting duck.

"I know," Naomi simply said.

From the corner of her eye, Shane and Lori both made it back to camp together. Naomi patted Carl's back as he stood and rushed over to the two, a spring in his step as per usual. Standing up, Naomi didn't follow after him though, she stood by Amy and tried her hardest to wipe the dirt from her jeans that Naomi knew would stain.

From the radio that was sitting on a blanket on a block of wood, a crackling sound broke through both of the speakers on the side of the contraption.

"Hel-lo b-b-b-base-camp!" It was crackly due to the poor reception though it drew everyone's attention to it as they all looked over to the old box radio with surprise on their faces.

"Can anybody hear me? Base camp, this is T-Dog, can anybody hear me?"

A large portion of the group rushed towards the things but Dale was the first to pick it up and reply. Excitement filled the air around them, Amy was hanging on to Naomi's arm as they both stood and watched as he fiddled around to the right setting so that people would be able to hear him.

"Hello, hello! Reception's bad on this end. Repeat. Repeat."

Dale once again fiddled with the signal trying to gain a better range but having no such luck as the thing crackled back to life, "W-we-tra…we're tapped in the department store."

The atmosphere that was once filled with hope fell and everyone looked around as if silently asking whether they were hearing the same thing. They all were.

"They saying they're trapped?" Shane asked, rather bummed out as he scrubbed at the back of his curly head of hair.

"Geeks are surrounding us, we're trapped in!"

"T repeat that last, repeat," There was no reply and the urgency that was in Dale's voice wasn't resolved, it never ended and there was no other reply from the people on the run in Atlanta.

Amy was shaking her head, it looked as if she were about to run, though Naomi wasn't sure where to and placed what she thought was a comforting hand on her shoulder in order to try to calm her down. Not that that would have worked anyway. Nothing seemed to go right for any of them in that moment. The pressure was on.  
When she looked over to her mother for reassurance, all she got was the mother put her hands on her hips and stare over at Shane as if he was the solution to all of their problems. But he was scratching the back of his head. Again. He must have one itchy head if he repetitively continued to do it.

Her mother spoke up, "He said the department store."

"I heard it too."

"Shane…" Lori started trying to tell him that they needed to do something to help but she was cut off by the man himself who knew that there was nothing that they could do. Much to the others' dismay.

"No way. We do not go after them. We do not risk the rest of the group, ya'll know that."

"So we're just gonna leave her there?" Amy asked, panic rising in her voice as she looked around at the others for support. No one knew what to do, Shane was their leader, he wouldn't do anything to purposely put them in danger.

Shane looked away for a second, gathering his thoughts, "Amy I know this is not easy."

"She volunteered to go, to help the rest of us!"

Naomi stepped forward as well, a scowl set on her lips, "Yeah so did Glenn. We owe it to them to at least try!"

Shane nodded his head solemnly but did not budge on his stance, "I know, but she knew the risks, hell, they all did. So if they're trapped…they're gone."

Naomi had never seen Shane being so insensitive and he definitely hit a nerve in her as she sucked in a breath of dismay. Apparently it did to Amy as well, because, as she was on the verge of tears, she stepped forward towards him, anger shining in her crystal blue eyes. He needed to think before he spoke, that was for sure. The people out there were risking their lives for them and he didn't want to lend a helping hand when they obviously needed it.

"So we just have to deal with that. There's nothing we can do."

Amy stared at him with such hatred that Naomi wondered for a while whether or not she would actually punch him, "She's my sister you son of a bitch," She told him with such ferocity that spit flew out of her mouth and made a beeline for him.

After saying that, she turned on her heel, her blonde hair flicking around her like flames that had lost all colour and stormed away from him. Her fists were clenched tightly. Naomi watched on in shock as Lori looked to Shane like she used to look at her dad when they fought.  
Naomi turned to Shane and shot him a glare. He would be an insensitive son of a bitch sometimes and now was not the time to start being one. He needed to be the wise leader that they wanted and needed to live with. She had never before felt so disgusted as she stared at him. She never blamed anything that was going on between him and her mum but she drew the line at being flat out mean. With a glare directed right at him, Naomi turned and ran after her mother and Amy, desperate to flee the scene that had just sealed the others fate.

The three ended up sitting together in Lori and Carl's tent. Amy was a balling mess which hurt Naomi to see. The mother and daughter duo set out to make the blonde feel better and to distract her. Pain was obviously something that Amy wasn't that good at dealing with. Especially the grief type of pain. It just showed how much Amy loved her sister. And how much it affected her made everyone feel remorseful.

Eventually Dale managed to coax Amy out by the prospect of food which she declined at first and then decided that it was a good idea to eat. Lori and Naomi were left to potter around aimlessly. Her mother got Carl to sit down so that she could cut his hair. When Naomi sat with them and poked fun at the youngest, Lori threatened to cut her hair as well. She planned out everything, saying that she would give her a fringe just like she did on accident in the second grade. Traumatised, Naomi shook her head and shut up almost instantly which made Lori smirk at her daughter as she smoothed out Carl's hair that was getting a little too long for her liking. When her mother concentrated on making the first snip, Naomi poked her tongue out at her little brother making him glare up at her with no malice in his features.

Shane made his way over to them like a dog with its tail between its legs, his hand scrubbing at the back of his head. He held his precious shot gun in his grasp and looked over to Naomi as if he were a child apologising to a teacher after interrupting the class.

"Look, Naomi I'm sorry for what I said but you have to understand that we can't risk any more people going out there and getting hurt."

Naomi refused to make eye contact and nodded her head even though she didn't like what she was hearing. She was tired of trying to battle people when she knew that she would never win against. Trying to do the right thing, Naomi reached over and grabbed the fold out chair that was in its fold up position against her chair and opened it, patting the seat for him to sit down in. He smiled at her notion and plopped down in it, pulling apart his gun to clean the barrel of his gun. Lori and Shane made small talk while Naomi made faces at Carl so that he wasn't so bored when their mum took the longest time in cutting his hair. All that Naomi was doing was trying to distract herself from feeling what she knew was to come if they didn't return back to base camp.

All of the sudden a shrill noise filled the air. Shane shot to his feet instantly, walking towards Dale who had reached for his pair of binoculars. From his position on the top of his RV, he had the best vantage point and lookout.

"Talk to me Dale," He said, running over to the RV so that he could get a clearer answer.

Dale spared a look from his binoculars to shout down at the people below, "I can't tell yet," His brow was creased in a determined concentration.

"Is it them? Are they back?" Amy asked, a tinge of excitement still lingering in her voice.

"Well I'll be damned," She heard Dale mutter.

Naomi's heart started pumping fast in her chest against her ribcage, "What is it?"

"Stolen car would be my guess."

They all watched in panic as the car rounded the corner and pulled in, instantly relieving Naomi's worry as Glenn's head of black hair came into view and then she saw his face. He looked happy and proud of himself. But he didn't get any time to be greeted as he stepped out of the vehicle, car alarm still going off loudly. It was echoing in the hills. He was bombarded with questions and demands so quickly that it was even hard for Naomi to process what was going on.

"Pop the hood please."

"Turn that damn thing off."

"Andrea, my sister, is she alright?"

"Pop the damn hood!" Shane yelled impatiently, exasperated that the beeping sound was still reverberating in his eardrums and probably everyone else's for the next few hours it was that loud and annoying.

"Yes, yes, yes." Glenn exclaimed, reaching into the car and pressing the button that allowed the hood to be pulled up. He then relieved Amy, saying that everyone was alright but Dixon.

It seemed that the Korean couldn't catch a break because as soon as the alarms stopped, Shane turned on him. He was yelling about how stupid the man was to have the alarms on while driving up to their camp. While Dale pretty much said the same thing, his approach was calmer which seemed to get through to Glenn more.

His only response was, "Sorry…I got a cool car though."

Naomi smiled and pulled him into a hug. Words or actions couldn't even begin to explain what it felt like to have her best friend back in view. It was such a great feeling and a large weight off of her chest.

A cube van shortly pulled up behind them which Naomi guessed contained the rest of the people on the run and she couldn't help but smile to see Amy rush over and embrace Andrea. The two hugged it out long and hard, it looked as if they had been separated for years the way that they clung to one another. Morales ran to his ecstatic family and it was all resolved.  
A frown did take over her features though as she looked over and saw her little brother with tears leaking out of his eyes. It was quite obvious that the boy missed their father. Naomi couldn't help but feel the same way. Families were reuniting and it still felt as if a huge chunk of hers was missing. She guessed that it became easier with time because it had to, she couldn't deal with the empty part of her soul that ached for her father.

Naomi cleared her throat and tried to move on with talking, "How'd you get out of there anyway?" She asked, staring at her little brother as their mum got down on her knees to console Carl.

Her heart ached again. Glenn reached out and linked his hand with hers. She relished the comfort that came with the silent support and looked at him with a brief and forced smile as she awaited an answer from those who just arrived.

Glenn answered, "New guy."

"New guy?" Shane asked with a scowl. He didn't like the prospect of a new person coming into their group at this point. He liked it the way it was just fine.

Morales nodded, arms still wrapped lovingly around his family, "Yeah new guy just came into the city. Hey Helicopter Boy, come say hello! He's a cop just like you," He chimed in enthusiastically.

Hearing the comment about the new guy being a cop made her heart ache even more. She already had to deal with one man that had the same profession as her dad and she didn't need another one there. Naomi just had to suck it up. There was no room for her to be selfish in this life.

A door swung open, the passenger side that was out of her view. The man stepped into her vision and her blood run cold as it pumped around her veins. Everything that was being said stopped being processed.

Her father, Rick Grimes stood awkwardly by the cube van looking down at his feet.

With wide eyes filled with disbelief, Naomi forced herself to close her eyes. It was the sun, an illusion playing tricks on her vision. It couldn't possibly be her father. He was dead. He died. She must have been hallucinating. That was it. Sunstroke caused hallucinations and it wasn't exactly as if she had stayed in the shade for the past few days either.

When she opened them back up again she expected to see a different man standing before her. She was more than surprised when he was still standing there, looking as strong as ever. Reality was playing cruel tricks on her. How could he be there? Standing right in front of her. Rick Grimes was the New Guy and Helicopter Boy.  
Rick Grimes looked straight at her with an expression that she couldn't even begin to pinpoint. Carl turned his head and saw his father standing there, the boy ran with a smile on his face, yelling that that was his dad. His dad was alive. Naomi's dad was alive and standing before them. Time started speeding up again and their father dropped to his knees to embrace his son with tears streaming down his face.

Every instinct in her body screamed at her to run to him like Carl and Lori had done but she was paralysed with shock. She couldn't seem to move. Glenn, who was still holding her hand looked on at the scene in awe until he realised that she was standing next to him when she should be with her family. He squeezed her palm with his fingers but she didn't turn to look at him, her eyes were glued to Rick Grimes as if he would just disappear if she even let her view falter for a second.

"Go to them Naomi," He whispered into her ear, letting go of her hand and pushing her forward.

That was all that she needed to start moving again and she was stumbling towards him, the waterworks starting. Rick met her halfway, he had gotten up from the ground and was moving towards his daughter who he longed to hold in his arms again.

"Daddy," Naomi breathed as she finally fell into his arms, his warm embrace felt like home.

She clung onto him tightly, not wanting to let him go and for him to disappear again. Sobs escaped her mouth and it did the same to him. Carl squeezed in between the two of them and Lori hang on the end of Rick, her arm going around her daughter to pull them all in closer. That was what her family was like, dysfunctional but at the same time, Naomi couldn't help but to feel like everything that she was missing out on was solved and everything felt complete. The hole in her heart that was shaped as her father was filled and all that she felt was a warmness of support from her family. The feeling was unexplainable.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

"Disoriented," Her father tells the group by the fire that night. The afternoon had rolled by in a blur and suddenly the sun was setting and it was time to light the campfires and sit around them for dinner.

The hours between light and dark faded quickly as Naomi was distracted by the fact that her father had practically came back from the dead. That was the last thing that Naomi could ever imagine and that was saying something seeing as the world had turned into something from a horror movie in under a year.

"I guess that comes closest," Rick continues. "Disorientated," Lori's hand rested softly upon Naomi's shoulder tentatively to which she didn't shrug off. Rick was smoothing down Carl's hair as he lay in his lap, the arm around Lori and his other hand pulling Naomi in. They all leaned on each other in a jumbled mess that was actually quite comfortable. Maybe it was just because their family was finally complete.

"Fear, confusion. All those things but disorientated comes closest."

"Words can be meagre sayings," Dale piped up, looking contentedly at the newly reunited family. "Sometimes words fall short."

"It felt like I'd been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else. For a while I thought I was trapped in some…coma dream. Something I might not wake up from. Ever."

Naomi, who had been staring out at the bustling fire, turned to look at her father. She couldn't even begin to imagine how terrifying that would have been to wake up and not have your family by your side to welcome you into the new cruel world.

She wiped a dripping tear from her cheek with her long sleeved jacked and gripped onto her father's hand for dear life, "Mom said you died," Carl mumbled, staring up at his father with wide, innocent eyes and Naomi felt like crying all over again.

Rick looked over to his guilty wife, squeezing his daughter's hand and stroked his sons' hair before replying, "She had every reason to believe that. Don't you ever doubt it."

Lori cleared her throat that was emotional from the days turning events, "When things started to get really bad they told me at the hospital that they were gonna medevac you and the other patients to Atlanta…and it never happened."

"Well I'm not surprised after Atlanta fell. And from the look of that hospital it got overrun."

Naomi vividly remembered the night that she and the remainder of her family had to haul arse out of their house. That night didn't hold any good memories and she longed to forget it and focus on the fact that her father was now there in front of them and holding onto her so tightly. She only wanted to move on.

"Looks don't deceive," Shane mumbled, pulling Naomi out from deep thought. "I barely got them out…you know…"

Rick then looked to his work partner and addressed him properly since his arrival, "-I can't tell you how grateful I am to you Shane." Rick said, a stern look melting onto his serious face. "Can't even begin to express it."

"There goes those words falling short again…poultry things," Dale said, smiling slightly. That man was so wise that Naomi didn't know how more people didn't listen to him more often.

The rolling silence was broken when one of the camp dwellers stood up, throwing a log of wood into the fire pit adjacent to the one that the Grimes family were huddled at together. Feeling the heat rush towards her, she couldn't help but feel that she was not allowed to enjoy the sudden warmth. Adding another log to a fire would only make the licking flames higher; something that they didn't want to do. Especially since a siren had been hooting around the hills that day. It would only draw more unwanted attention to them. Walkers were drawn to anything and everything as Shane had informed them one day and so adding height to an already noticeable fire was just stopping their cover from doing its job. They certainly didn't need any more attention.

"Ed, you wanna rethink that log?" Shane spoke up, also knowing and understanding the importance of not being seen by threats.

Ed just shook his head though and leant back, enjoying the heat of the flames like the selfish bastard that he most definitely was, "It's cold man."

"Cold doesn't change the rules does it? We keep our fires low, just embers so we can't be seen from a distance right?"

"I said it's cold. Why don't you mind your own business for once?"

Instantly standing up, obviously having enough of the childish back chat, Shane strutted over to where Ed was clearly showing his dominance, "You really wanna have this conversation man?"

Staring up at Shane for a few and rather tense seconds, the bold man finally relented, looking over at his wife Carol as if she was his personal slave, "Go on, put that damn thing out, go on!"

Scuttling to her feet like a scared mouse, Carol pulled the burning chunk of wood out of the fire and tossed it on the floor, Shane putting the flame out with his work shoe. While the scene was unfolding, everyone watched on in silence but Naomi was compelled to watch her father's reaction. Just like he did when he was working, Rick soaked up all of the information and body language and storing them to use at a later date. Her father had always been smart like that. Though it did make Naomi's blood boil at the fact that Ed was just using his wife and daughter as personal slaves for his own benefit and the reason that he added more heat to the smouldering flames was because he wanted them on, not for the benefit of his family and what they may need. He obviously cared for himself and his wellbeing and safety over his own family.

Sighing soundlessly, Naomi leaned on her father's shoulder, suddenly feeling very tired and emotionally drained from the day that they had all just experienced. She knew that she was going to sleep well that night.

A happy smile cast over her features as everyone started to turn in for the night. Naomi knew that she could have retired earlier but as she loved the company of her father and missed being so close to him. She hugged him tight one last time for that day before following Glenn to the tent that they shared. Naomi was so happy that her bed was in front of her, not caring that it was mostly uncomfortable to sleep in. She flopped down onto it, not bothering to even think about changing her clothes, she managed to take of her shoes before slipping into her sleeping bag. Her eyes closed but she was not yet asleep, she needed to talk to Glenn first, to relieve herself of her happiness that she could barely control.

"I can't believe that he's alive. I can't believe that he's _here_ ," She said, her voice holding a giddy tone to it. She could hear shuffling around but didn't open her eyes to see what was going on. She was far too comfortable.

"I didn't even know who he was until I saw you all together. None of us even recognised the fact that he was a Grimes."

Naomi could tell that it was supposed to be a form of guilty apology which she wouldn't accept. He didn't need to apologise at all, "Don't you feel sorry. I never talked about him for a reason. How were you to know? Anyway what happened to Merle? Where'd he go to?"

An audible sigh left Glenn's lips as he slumped down onto his bed, "It actually has a lot to do with your dad."

Glenn then went on to tell the story of how a high Merle managed to become a racist and sexist pig while shooting down walkers on top of the department store roof. He beat up T-Dog which explained the bruises and cut lip and then her father then proceeded to handcuff him to a pipe on the rooftop. Throwing away Merle's drugs to be tread upon by the walking dead.

"Your dad was such a bad arse I swear!" He had exclaimed a smile was on his face when Naomi turned to look at him.

He told her about how he got covered in walker guts and had to roam the streets pretending to be one of them and the story of how he managed to get his cool car as well.

"That is a sweet ride though," Naomi interjected, watching as Glenn's face lit up at the reveal.

He shrugged his shoulders, "That was also your dads doing. Oh boy I love that car. It's something that I always wanted to drive."

"Well then I guess this is your lucky day then."

They lay in silence for a second before Naomi spoke up again, amusement clear in her drowsy voice, "How'd the Glenn I know manage to get covered in walkers' guts and roam the streets to save your fellow teammates from impending doom."

"That sounds like something from a video game that I had on my list to play. Anyway it wasn't cool, I threw up," He admitted sourly. "That smell Naomi, oh man you wouldn't believe how bad that smell is."

Naomi hummed, "Still pretty badass though."

"Really?" Glenn asked, sitting up slightly.

"Really."

Something sprung into his mind and he grabbed his pack. He rummaged around in it for a while trying to find something while Naomi propped herself up on her elbow, a questioning look on her face.

"Ahah," Glenn said, as if he had just performed a successful magic trick and flung something at her.

It hit her in the chest to which she glared at him but he stared back at her unapologetically. When she finally glanced down at what object had attacked her, her eyes widened. There lay a pair of sunglasses, a type that she had described to him one day after admitting that they were on her 'to buy' list back before the world ended and braindead freaks decided that it was a good time to appear. The sunglasses were something that she had forgotten about, something that she had cared only a few months prior. He had not only looted a shop for her, he had remembered some mindless thought that she had expressed to him one day and acted on it. A grin made its way onto her face as she slid them on. Even though they made it harder for her to see in the dimness of the lamp, Naomi was already in love with them.

"Oh my god thank you Glenn," She gushed, carefully folding the item and placing them in an area away from her body so that she wouldn't roll over and squash them during her restless sleep. That was the last thing that she wanted to do.

"All good," He replied back coolly even though his heart had risen up so high from her comments. He tried to hide his smile but it was peaking onto his lips.

Glenn reached over and turned the lamp off, plunging them into darkness. Eyes adjusting as she stared up, watching as the moon became more prominent from her gaze a thought suddenly popped into her mind.

"Hey Glenn?" Naomi asked, a smile on her face at the thought that she was just going to ask about.

"Yeah?"

"Can you take me for a drive in that awesome new ride one day?"

Glenn let a laugh escape his lips involuntarily, "Sure."

"Cool. Night Glenn."

"Night Naomi."

And Naomi closed her eyes.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Once again, Glenn managed to wake her up the next morning. Naomi groaned, digging her palms into her eyes to try to wake herself up more before dragging herself out of the comfort of her sleeping bag. The two took turns getting changed for the new day before exiting their tent. The sun was shining once again, even though it did happen to pour down rain that night for a good three hours. She sat down next to Glenn as he started to heat up their breakfast of beans. Naomi yawned, finally feeling the exhaustion from the last few days of stress. Also because she hadn't been sleeping well in their tent when Glenn wasn't there, it was too weird sleeping by herself without anyone to talk to but she didn't want to go back to her mother's tent. Grabbing the can from Glenn's outstretched hands, she cast a look over her shoulder to the tents where she knew her father were still in there sleeping.

"It's cool that your dad is still alive," Glenn said, drawing her attention to him and she smiled slightly. She didn't want to talk that much about her back together family because she knew that Glenn had lost all contact with his family when the outbreak first struck and didn't want to upset him by reminding him that Naomi had everything back together and he didn't.

Instead she just nodded and shovelled the remains of the baked beans that she halved with Glenn. Shane had disappeared from eyesight. This time without her mother in tow who was currently washing up. Carl was with the rest of the kids playing tag. Looking up from the can that was now empty to see Dale and Jim pulling parts from Glenn's awesome car that he had brought back. Elbowing Glenn, she pointed to the scene with wide eyes. The two instantly stood up and made their way in unison towards the car. Neither of them said a word as they knew that there was nothing really that they could do about the fact that they were destroying the car for parts and gas that the RV needed. Feeling a hand rest softly on her shoulder, Naomi spun less than gracefully around to be face to face with her father.

Kissing the top of her head, he mumbled a good morning to which the eldest smiled slightly and greeted back before turning to the shiny, now torn apart car, a scowl instantly matching the Korean's.

"Look at them…vultures," Glenn mumbled distastefully. "Yeah go on, strip it clean," He called out to Jim and Dale.

Walking up to the three, Dale placed his hand upon Glenn's shoulder. "Generators need every drop of fuel they can get, got no power without it…sorry Glenn."

Sulking still, Glenn directed his attention to Rick who was almost smirking at the ridiculousness of the situation, "I thought I would get to drive for at least a few more days," He said, looking over at Naomi because he had promised that he would drive her around in it and then he couldn't.

"Yeah. And I thought that I would be able to ride in it!" She whined though Glenn knew that she didn't really mind. Rick huffed a laugh, only to be glared at by both of the young adults.

Realising that neither were joking, he patted the two of them on the back, "Yeah…maybe we'll get to steal another car one day."

Perking up slightly, Naomi remembered her car that had been parked on the street back at her childhood home. Either it had been stolen or banged up pretty badly that it couldn't be driven. Because from what she had been told from Glenn, Rick had rode into Atlanta on a god forsaken horse. She had no idea where he got the horse from since they lived in residential areas with minimal to no backyards…unless, someone had hidden a horse in their townhouse. But her father had never mentioned anything about her car. That thing was like her baby, it was the first thing that she could pay for without her parents help. The car had so much sentimental value to her.

After her father walked away, Naomi turned to Glenn, "Maybe we'll even find the same kind of car I used to have. I miss my baby," She sighed making Glenn smile.

Glenn followed her gaze over to her newly reunited parents. He understood how nervous she felt about what was to come. Shane was with Lori for most of the three months that they were at basecamp before Rick arrived and the tension between the two would probably be pretty obvious. Rick would either find out through that or someone would tell him. Either way, it was probably not going to be a good outcome for their family. So Glenn understood that Naomi was scared of what may happen if her father found out. Things were never as simple as they seemed. Before he could do or say anything to make her feel better, Shane's land rover pulled back into camp, telling everyone that water was there. Naomi went over and grabbed a few jugs of it, Glenn following after her to help. The water still needed to be boiled as a safety precaution so that's what the two started to do.

Though they didn't get too far before an ear splitting screech filled the air and Naomi immediately recognised who the voice belonged to, "Dad!"

With the sound of Carl's voice and how desperate it was, Naomi took off, running into the forest and not even bothering to look behind her and make sure someone was there to back her up. She possessed no weapons and would be useless trying to protect her brother from a danger but she was going to try. She had to do something. Her brother and the rest of the little kids that she had come to feel responsible for were in danger and she had to help. Naomi didn't reply when her mother and Glenn were calling out to her, she just kept on running, pushing past the aching that her body felt. She had never been a person that liked exercising that much and it was showing in that moment. Her father pushed in front of her and so did Shane so at least Naomi knew that they had weapons to protect the kids from. Hopefully they would get there in time though and no one was injured.

Upon reaching Carl, Sophia and Morale's kids, all of the mother's that were trailing behind her rushed forward, checking their children for injuries and asking if they were alright. Her racing heat calmed a little when she saw that Carl was tucked under Lori's arm protected and alright. She was just glad that no one was hurt. But they ventured on, leaving the mother's to be with their children as they each clambered through some rough terrain and when they came to an opening of the thick forest, they all saw the threat that had upset their children so much.

A walker was kneeling down and feasting on the neck of a wild deer that had a few arrows sticking out of its side. Noticing the attention that the creature had caused, the walker got to its feet, gore falling out of its still chewing mouth. On unsteady feet, the ugly thing began to stumble its way towards them.

Glenn, noticing that Naomi held no weapons in her grasp, pushed her back to make her go over with Andrea and Amy. Which she begrudgingly did; letting the men take over to take out the walker. The three women watched in disgust as all of the men beat the shit out of the once human and now walking dead. She was trying her hardest not to gag at the view and the smell that poured from the pores of the thing. If that was even a fraction of the stench that Glenn had to put up with to stay alive and save people, then her respect just doubled for him. Dale, wielding a blunt axe, took the head off in one big sweep leaving all of the men panting from the exertion.

With a horrified expression falling on his features, Dale pointed down to the decapitated walker, "This is the first one we've had up here. They never come this far up the mountain."

Naomi couldn't help but to think back to the day before with the car alarm echoing for minutes after it had been shut off around the mountain and whether or not that had something to do with the walker's appearance, she didn't know. Maybe it was also there from the higher camp fire that Ed made the mistake of doing. No one would ever know. Though Naomi hoped that that was the only walker that they would be seeing for a while and it was only there out of pure coincidence.

"Well they're running out of food in the city that's what."

That was probably true as well, how many more alive people or animals were there left in Atlanta. They would have to move around eventually to look for food it was just a fact. Though the way that they start to protect themselves had to be changed in order to keep people safer. who knows what might have happened if Carl hadn't of called out for Rick?

Casting a dubious look at the two sisters, Naomi, Amy and Andrea witnessed as Daryl Dixon - the crossbow wielding redneck - came out of the shrubbery, glaring at the men who were holding weapons in his direction.

"Son of a bitch!" He exclaimed as they lowered their weapons, allowing the man to walk over to the deer that he had spent hours hunting and shot down himself. "That's my deer. Look at it; all gnawed on by this filthy, disease bearing motherless poxy bastard!"

Daryl continued to yell, kicking at the decapitated walker's body with every insult that he threw at it. Well, wasn't he just in a great mood. Naomi thought back to the previous night where T-Dog and then Glenn both informed on separate occasions that Merle was on a rooftop in some building in Atlanta. They would have to tell Daryl, his younger brother, what was going on. He would not be in a good mood and Naomi was very hesitant to see it unfold. As long as the truth was told and nobody more was hurt by selfish actions then that would be the best way to go about breaking the news to the resident redneck.

Dale put up a pacifying hand trying to calm the man down, "Calm down son, that's not helping."

Daryl snorted, stalking up to the older man with his crossbow slinging behind him in his grasp. "What do you know about it old man? Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to 'On Golden Pond'," He told him with malice clear in his voice before sighing and kneeling down to view the dead animal clearer and pulling the arrows out to reuse them. "I've been tracking this thing for hours, was gonna drag it back to camp. Cook us up some venison. What do you think, we could cut around this chewed up part right here?"

"Nah man I would not risk that," Shane shot down honestly. He was beginning to become aggravated because he hadn't slept the night before and seeing Rick and Lori together didn't spike him with happiness.

"That's a damn shame. Got us some squirrel. 'Bout a dozen or so. That'll have to do."

That was a positive of having to deal with Merle's drugged up arse in camp, the men always hunted and provided the camp with fresh meat at least weekly for them to eat. The youngest never came back empty handed.

A loud groan drew Naomi's gaze to the decapitated head of the walker that was now active, it's jaw gnashing together as if it were biting down on human flesh. Her stomach rumbled in distaste as the thing continued to move its mouth about and she honestly felt like that morning's breakfast would make an appearance if she didn't look away.

"Oh god," Amy groaned, looking just as pale as Naomi felt.

Andrea put an arm around her sister and Naomi, motioning them to move with her on her route back to camp. "C'mon," She murmured.

As the three of them started to go back to camp, Naomi could hear the sound of an arrow being cocked and shot into the flesh of what she presumed was the walker's head. Her stomach rolled again.

From a distance, Daryl sarcastically educated the rest of the group. "Come on people what the hell? It's gotta be the head. Don't ya'll know nothin'?"

When the girls reached camp, the first place that Naomi went was to her little brother who was sat beside her mother, a cup of water in his hand. She knelt down beside him and wrapped her arms around Carl, relishing the feeling of having her little brother with her, It was too close of a call for Naomi to be comfortable with even if nobody got hurt. That was her little brother calling out for help just minutes prior. That was her little brother in danger and was something that Naomi would never be comfortable with. He hugged her back, wordlessly ensuring her that he was alright. It didn't take long for the others to join them back at the camp and anxiety rose in Naomi's chest once again because she knew that someone was going to break the news to Dixon and that it wasn't going to go down well.

Naomi just hoped that no one would get physically hurt from the mental pain that she knew Daryl would soon to be enduring.

"Merle...Merle. Get your ugly arse out here. Got us some squirrel, let's stew 'em up."

"Daryl," Shane said, catching the man's attention. "Why don't you slow up a bit. I have something I have to tell you."

"'Bout what?"

"'Bout Merle. There was a problem in Atlanta," Shane started and Naomi made her way over to Glenn. She wanted to feel safer next to her best friend. The two leant against the now trashed red car, away from the impending action just in case any shit went down.

Daryl turned expressionless as he turned to the ex-cop. "He dead?" The brother asked stoically.

"I'm not sure."

"He either is or he ain't," He yelled moving threateningly closer towards Shane like someone would a boxer in the ring.

That's when Rick Grimes stepped in, showing his dominance and true cop self. "There's no easy way to out this so I'll just say it."

Threatened, Daryl backed up slightly but still kept his rough guy exterior. Not wanting to show concern over his brother's safety. "Who the hell are you?"

"Rick Grimes."

"Rick Grimes," He mocked. "You got something you want to tell me?"

"Your brother was a danger to us all. Do I handcuffed him on a roof. Hooked him to a piece of metal...he's still there."

"Hold on," The redneck said, wiping at his eyes to avoid feeling any emotions. "Let me process this. You saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof...and you left him there?" He roared, swinging with his hand to prove a point but wasn't aiming at everything. The rest of the group watched on in silence, too threatened to say anything.

"Yeah," Rick told him simply.

Fuming, Daryl threw the rope of squirrels at her father, ready for a fight only to be knocked over by Shane. It all happened so quickly and he pulled a knife, trying to swipe at Rick. Naomi's breath got caught in her throat as she felt herself latching onto Glenn's arm for support as she watched on, powerless. As quickly as the knife was pulled from his belt, Shane pulled him into a choke hold. Rick bent down to Daryl who was sitting on the ground and said something that Naomi couldn't hear and a couple of seconds later Daryl got released, flopping onto the ground for a second while he gathered his thoughts. Naomi swore that she saw him wiping away some tears as he straightened to look at her father and Shane.

Throwing an arm out, he growled. "To hell with ya'll. Just tell me where he is so I can go and get him."

Standing, Daryl spared one last look to the motionless group and then stormed off to gather his things. With tension leaving the air slightly, Rick only pulled it back in as he looked to his wife, Lori, daughter, Naomi and son, Carl. "I'm going back," He said and Naomi could hardly say that she was surprised.

Naomi stood still next to Glenn after the whole fiasco died down, She still had no idea how to react to the prospect of her father - who they had just gotten back - was then going to leave again and risk his life for some druggy guy that he barely knew. She didn't want to sound selfish but anything could go wrong in those types of situations. Especially in a city full of roaming walkers and she didn't want to lose him. She couldn't handle that.

"...So could you just...could you throw me a bone here man. Just tell me why. Why would you risk your life for a douchebag like Merle Dixon," Shane asked his best friend, partner and brother, Rick Grimes, following him around to try and gauge some kind of answer from the man. While Naomi wasn't in the best of moods with Shane Walsh, she did agree with what he was saying. Why was her father risking his life for someone who wouldn't do the same for him?

"Hey," Dixon called out from his spot by the campfire pit. "You better choose your words wisely."

Shane looked unapologetically at Daryl. "Oh not, I did. Douchebag is what I meant. Merle Dixon. That guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst," That was an accurate assumption of Merle and Naomi saw Glenn smirking from the peripheral of her vision and she playfully elbowed him in the ribs as she continued to watch on.

"What he would or wouldn't do doesn't interest me. I can't let a man die of thirst and exposure. We left him there like an animal caught in a trap, that's no way for anything to die let alone a human being," Rick cut in.

Damn it. Her father always said the right things where they were needed and she understood that he had to clear his conscience but she was afraid for his safety. His life was in the hands of the city that was falling apart and someone who had just found out that he had personally handcuffed his brother to a rooftop. That was not a good thing to put your trust in. Either way, Naomi was conflicted. She just wanted him to stay with his family that had only just seen him in months where it was safer.

"So you and Daryl...that's your big plan?"

Rick's gaze then fell hopelessly on Glenn who almost instantly understood why he was looking at him and got the message with a groan. "Oh come on!"

Naomi stood next to Glenn, widening her eyes as she realised what her father was indicating at. First Rick was going to risk his own life and now he wanted to drag Glenn into it as well so his life could also be on the line to rescue someone that wouldn't do the same for them.

His guilty eyes flickered to his daughter's for a second before going pleadingly back to the twenty-three-year-old. "You know the way. You've been there before in and out, no problem you said so yourself. It's not fair to ask I know that but I feel a lot better with you along and I know she would too," He said, pointing to Lori who sat next to Carl by the pit where they cook and stew the foods.

Scoffing, Naomi muttered, "Great. Way to guilt trip someone to going with you dad," Glenn looked at her with that look that told her that it was all going to be fine and she sighed, lowering her head. "Fine. Whatever. I'm done. Enjoy going into the city and risking your life for someone that wouldn't do the same for you," She said and then trudged away back to her tent. She had had enough arguing with people.

Naomi sat on her cot, reaching under her pillowcase and grabbing at the old photograph that she was searching for. She stared down at the photo of her whole family attending a stupid family reunion when she was fifteen. Her cousins, aunties, uncles and grandparents were probably dead. Her friends, college lecturers as well. And all she had was one stupid photo that was faded and ripping that she had stolen from one of the photo albums that her mother had taken with them. She was debating on whether or not to go out there to say goodbye. Part of her wanted to go, thinking that it would be stupid not to if anything went wrong but the stubborn part of her wanted to just stay and sulk in her lonely tent like a child. She didn't bother to look up when she heard the zip of the tent undo but she was almost one hundred percent certain that it was Glenn.

"What do you want?" She asked moodily. She honestly had no patience left. Though Naomi wouldn't admit that she was actually pretty terrified to let them go back into a walker filled city that was once called Atlanta.

"We're going to go soon. Just uh wanna let you now," And that was when he saw a few tears that she willed to disappear leak out the corner of her eyes.

Naomi wiped them away indignantly, not wanting to admit that she was letting her emotions get the better of her. She was so sick of feeling week. Though Glenn didn't see it that way. He though that she was one of the strongest people that he had ever met. He gently sat down next to her and peered at the photograph that was clutched protectively in her hands and he understood immediately why she was so emotional about them leaving. If he was in her position he would be freaking out. But he had no one left except for her so it gave him even more reason to get there and back quickly and most importantly; alive.

He slipped an arm around her shoulder comfortingly, he brought her eyes to his as if she was almost surprised. "Your dad is coming back and so am I."

"How do you know that? Last time you went you got swamped by walkers and got trapped in that goddamn department store, You almost didn't come back. I can't go through that again Glenn. I can't lose you and I can't lose my dad. He only just got back."

Glenn shook his head adamantly. "Yeah but hopefully they will have lost interest and we will already be extra prepared. We have to do this and we will come back."

"You promise?"

He nodded. "I promise. Now come and say goodbye to your dad. I think he at least needs one person in his family on his side," Naomi huffed because she wanted to delay the fact that they were leaving as long as humanly possible but agreed anyway and followed him out of their tent.

Rick had just finished saying goodbye to Lori and Carl and was glad to see that Glenn had managed to get his daughter out. She was the one to wrap her arms around Rick first and squeezed hard as he wrapped his arms around her as well. The embrace was full of emotion and made him melt.

"I'm gonna come back nice and safe."

"I know," She whispered back at him. "You are going to come back. You're going to get Merle and be back. You can do this."

Rick nodded, a small smile appeared on his lips as he kissed her forehead and moved to the cube van with Daryl and T-Dog. Naomi then turned to Glenn and told him that he better come back or else she would chip the paint off of his cool ride even though it was completely stripped by Dale and Jim. He looked horrified and assured her that the would be back before she knew it. Glenn looked out of the window as they drove off to Atlanta and as he looked back at Naomi, he saw her slide on the sunglasses that he had brought back for her and a smile took over his lips as he looked back to the road ready for the trip ahead of him.

* * *

Later that day, the women of the camp, saw for Lori and Miranda who were child watching were all down at the quarry washing clothes that the women had obviously gotten dumped with. It was a hot day and to be completely honest Naomi was tired of having to do the laundry constantly. She was easily roped into washing someone else's sweaty and dirty clothes. Splashing and screaming draw her attention to Carl who was playing in the water with Shane and away from the pesky pile of washing that had her name on it. While she did get annoyed at Shane for what he did with her mother, Naomi had to admit that that was pretty damn cute. The man cared for Carl so much it was pretty obvious. Either way, it brought a smile to her face to see her little brother looking that happy. He deserved it.

"Sometimes I question the fairness of the gender roles around here," She complained, earning nods and grumbles in agreement.

All that the men seemed to do was sit around and clean their guns while the women were cooking and cleaning and doing laundry.

"I do miss my coffee maker with the built in grinder oh honey," Jacquie expressed and Naomi realised that she did too. There was nothing better than a strong cup of black coffee to wake you up in the morning. Especially when she had exams to study for. Well, when she did have exams to study for all of those months ago.

"I miss my phone. Texting," Amy added on with a sigh, only to have Amy roll her eyes at her little sister. Though in some ways, Naomi did miss getting text messages from her friends and family.

"I miss my Maytag," Carol chimed in quietly. Of course the woman would miss her washing machine but Naomi would like it right then to do the washing for her. It would save a hell of a lot of time and energy.

"I mss my car. The poor thing got left back at my parent's house," Naomi expressed with a groan as she patted her heart with her hand as it if was broken, making the rest of the women smile and shake their heads at her antics.

Andrea thinks about what she was going to say for a couple of seconds before a cheeky grin spread across her face, "I miss my vibrator," She admits and her sister chokes on air as the other laugh heartily. Naomi wasn't sure whether she should be weirded out by the older woman's dirty confession or amused because she said it so coarsely.

Before anyone could say anything, mousy voice that belonged to Carol spoke up. "Me too," She admitted and they all launched back into laughter. Carol didn't seem like the type of person to carry around a sec toy or even have one.

"What's so funny?" A rough voice asked from behind them, making Naomi jump and look around to see Carol's abusive husband Ed standing behind them, blowing his smoke into their faces. She must have been so distracted with the rest of them that she didn't even notice Ed walk over to them. Of course he had been monitoring them like a hall monitor in high school did a late arrival.

Andrea sighed, also done with his depreciating antics. "Just swapping war stories Ed," She told him, trying to put a comical spin into it but he really wasn't having it.

Instead of saying anything, Ed just stubbed out his cigarette and lit a new one being super passive aggressive. He was now continuing to stand over them instead of watching them from the distance of his car. It was as if he wanted to make sure that they were actually doing any work. It made Naomi feel uncomfortable that she and the others were being watched by the creep of a man. Andrea really wasn't happy about the arrangements, and being a lawyer, the blonde stood up defiantly to argue her case.

"Ed, I'll tell you what. You don't like how your laundry is done you are welcome to pitch in and do it yourself. Here," She said boldly, throwing the half washed piece of clothing to Ed only to have it thrust back at her roughly. Andrea gasped in shock as it landed on her chest.

"Ain't my job missy," He said simply, talking a large drag of his smoke.

Andrea moved forward and Amy was quick to try and stop her, knowing her sister better than anyone there but she wasn't listening. "Andrea don't."

"What is your job Ed? Sitting on your arse smoking cigarettes?"

"It sure as hell ain't listening to some uppity smart mouth bitch I'll tell you what," He looked over Andrea's shoulder at his cowering wife and cocked his head back. "Come on let's go."

"I don't think she needs to go anywhere with you Ed," Naomi spoke up, finally finding her voice and deciding to use it. She walked over to join Andrea's side, making the man angry. She didn't care what he said or thought, he had been hurting his wife for far too long under everyone's noses and Naomi couldn't stand it for even one more second.

"And I say it's none of your business," He shot back with a heated glare. "Come on now. You heard me."

Carol tried to make her way over to him and Naomi stopped her, wanting her to know that she could stay with them, that she didn't have to go away with that awful man only to be pulled back by the same douchebag.

"Don't think that I won't knock you one your arse just 'cos you're some college educated cooze," Although Naomi couldn't help but to feel slightly offended by the man's vulgar words, she stood tall and glared at him.

Naomi had never known anyone that suffered domestic violence before the turn and she didn't know how manipulative the could be to the person being harassed. She didn't understand how someone would want to willingly go to them when they had a choice. She understood then looking back and forth between Carol and Ed.

"Now you come on or you're gonna regret it later."

"What do she can show up with fresh bruises later Ed. Yeah, we've seen them," Jacquie piped up angrily causing Ed to laugh and Naomi's skin crawled at the sound.

"Stay out of it. Now come on. It's really none of your fucking business. You really wanna keep prodding the bull here. Okay? Now I am done talking come one," He growled threateningly, reaching over and grabbing Carol's arm roughly.

"No," Andrea interjected.

"No Carol you don't have to do this-" Naomi was cut off as Ed started yelling, obviously passing his tipping point.

"You don't tell me what to do I'll tell you what!" He screamed and much to everyone's surprise, even Carol's, he backhanded Naomi's head roughly, causing a riot to break out as Naomi fell to the floor.

Her stomach hit the gravel of the ground and by the impact and the way that she landed, Naomi knew that she was going to bruise there as well as her face that just got slapped. While the other women forced Ed away, she got pulled up by Amy only to see Shane drag Ed away and beat the absolute shit out of him. It got to a point where even Naomi thought that Shane would kill him. She had never seen him that angry before. Never. While she was hunching over silently, the other women were yelling at him to stop. When he finally did, he looked back at them and then at Carol for a brief second before his eyes focused on Naomi. He went over to her, gently helping her to her feet and looking her over to make sure that there were no serious injuries caused to her.

"Are you ok?" He asked softly and he turned back to the normal Shane as if seeing her hurt made him snap out of it and return back to who he really was.

She nodded, even though she really wasn't alright and Shane knew that because he knew her. He had watched and been there when she was growing up, He was a big part of her life even if she didn't want to admit it. The woman had turned silent as they watched on as Shane led Naomi but up to the camp with his arm around her middle and hers around his shoulder, leaning on him for support. They had never seen their leader be that kind and caring before to anyone. Maybe it was because he hated seeing the kid that was a huge part of his life get hurt.  
Dale and her mother hovered over her as she was told to sit down by the officer who went off to fetch water. He knew what she needed and he was doing it.

"Guys I'm fine," Naomi sighed, irritated because her mother couldn't stop poking at the already sensitive patch of skin that was forming into a bruise. Lori was close to tears because she had never seen her kid get hurt like that before. She had never seen her daughter get hurt by someone else physically and there she was, with bruising given by an adult. That was what the world had come to.  
"Seriously mum. I'm fine don't worry."

"How can I not worry! You just got hurt while I was up here and now you're in pain and I can't do anything to help you," Her mother cried, holding a hand to her mouth to hide the fact that it was quivering. Lori looked even more shaken up than Naomi was which she just couldn't seem to understand.

Naomi rolled her eyes. "Stop overreacting. It's just a bruise. It will heal and goddamn stop poking at it that hurts!" She urges, swatting away at her mother's hand like she would at a fly.

Just before anyone could go on Shane returned with a cup of water and a rag to dab at her face. Naomi told her mother to go and look after Carl and the small crowd of people slowly dispersed leaving her with only Shane. He was playing doctor in that moment, swabbing at her face with the town and Naomi enjoyed the cold temperature of the water that contrasted with her temperature from the heat of the day.

"Your day just seems to be getting better and better," Shane said humorously and Naomi laughed dryly, not really feeling in the mood to make light of the whole situation at that moment. She just wanted to be in a bad mood for a little bit.

"Yeah. First my brother almost gets attacked by a walker then my dad and my best friend leaves to go rescue someone that never gave a shit about either of them and then I get slapped by an abusive arsehole because I was standing up for someone who was in danger from her husband. So yeah, it's been a pretty good day so far," She told him sarcastically.

He smiled. "Well at least it can't get any worse," He told her positively and she just nodded, hoping that the day would get better.

Authors Note:  
Hey guys sorry for the delays in chapter updates. I will be getting back on track with updates soon hopefully. I am aiming to get the rest of season one up by the end of the week.

Thank you for reading, reviewing, following/favouriting my story and sticking by me while rewrite this story!

Thank you for reading and have a great day!


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Naomi rested atop the RV with Dale. She was accompanying him while he took watch and thankfully he wasn't trying to teach her any more about vehicles because she honestly didn't want to try and understand what he was talking about. She would drive the cars, just not fix them. She was drawn to watch the blonde sisters, Amy and Andrea out in a small boat fishing. They were trying their luck at finding fish to bring back to camp. Though Naomi couldn't lie, she was excited at the prospect of having fresh meat that she was consequently used to eating before the fall. The whole decision that they would go out fishing was very sudden and that was only because Amy was snooping around in the RV as one does and found two fishing rods. Her eyes were so lit up when she showed her sister.  
Dale followed her gaze and had a slight chuckle to himself as he watched Amy and Andrea both casting their lines.

"You know; I would have thought that Amy had found those old lines before now. She's already looked around that small space about a thousand times," Dale said, a smile on his face as he recalled all of the times that Amy had innocently snooped through his possessions while he had known her as he lifted the binoculars up and spun around just for a safety measure.

Naomi turned to him with a smile only to see him frowning and looking out at something behind them. Her smile faded as she could vaguely see something bobbing up and down, maybe they were digging or something. She could sort of see part of the shovel or maybe that was just her eyes playing tricks on her, she couldn't tell. Either way, someone was out there.

"What is that?" She asked, trying not to let her slight fear come through in her voice even though she was sure that that had failed all together.

He looked away from his pair of binoculars and over at her. "It's just Jim. I'm gonna go see what's going on, you stay here and keep a look out," He said, handing her his binoculars. "You just look around every so often and I'll be backs soon," Thrusting the object into her arms before she could object, the man quickly scaled the ladder and was off, leaving Naomi with being on watch which was something that she was not very comfortable doing. She sighed, slumping back into her chair and hoping that he wouldn't take too long with Jim.

It didn't take long for Andrea and Amy to come back with a whole heap of fish on string, being held up by the two grinning women. Naomi whistled from her position on top of the RV and she moved back down onto solid ground to congratulate the sisters on their finds. It was a hell of a lot of fish.

"This is so awesome!" She exclaimed. "I had no idea that you guys could fish."

Amy giggled. "There's a lot you don't know about me Naomi," She joked, trying to sound mysterious.

Carl grinned, poking at one of the fish eyes. "Cool," He exclaimed. Naomi grinned down at her little brother.

"Yeah cool," Amy shot back with a small smile. "Next time we go fishing I'll teach you. If that's alright with you?" Amy asked, looking back at Lori questioningly as if not to undermine her authority.

A smirk took over Lori's lips as she shrugged, holding up her hands. "You won't catch me complaining."

Naomi saw Dale come back, he looked pale and shaken up though no one seemed to notice except for her as Andrea jokingly scolded him. "Hey Dale. When was the last time you oiled those line reels? They're a disgrace."

"I uh, I don't wanna alarm anyone but...we may have a bit of a problem," He then looked at Shane who had made his way over to the still rapidly digging Jim, just in sight from behind the start of the forest.

The whole group had made their way over to Jim, wondering why the hell he was torturing himself out in the sun, non-stop digging of what looked to be graves. Jim had always seemed like a fairly stable person, not a psychopath who wants to kill everyone he meets. It was quite a hot day; she wouldn't be surprised if he had sunstroke. He was probably hallucinating something and that was causing him to act out. People do weird things when staying out in the sun for long periods of time.

"Hey Jim? Why don't you just hold up, give us a minute please," Shane demanded with an authoritative voice, making the man sigh and stop looking at the crowd in an exasperated manner.

"What do you want?"

"Well just a little concerned that's all."

"Dale says you've been out here for hours," Morales chipped in to the tense situation.

Jim did not look happy by another person talking to him. It probably didn't help that there was a crowd of onlookers surrounding him and watching on like an audience to their favourite TV show.

"So?" He asks indignantly.

"So why you digging?" After gaining no response, Shane went on. "What, you digging for China man?" He laughed at him own joke as nobody reacted.

"Doesn't matter, I'm not hurting anyone."

"Not yet anyway," Another man cut in, someone who Naomi thought was named Clive. While he murmured it under his breath everyone still heard him anyway. Naomi was the fasted to turn and glare at him, hoping that her reactions would put him back in his place and shut him up. And besides, she knew Jim and he wasn't mentally unstable enough to hurt someone innocent.

Pretending not to hear what Clive said, Dale decided to intervene once again. "Yeah maybe to yourself. It's a hundred degrees today. You can't keep this up-"

"I sure can. Watch me," He yelled, stabbing at the dirt with his blunt shovel. From her spot next to Carl, she saw her little brother jump and move further under their mother's protective arm.

Naomi had had a rough day and just wanted it to calm down. Plus, that was her brother that was brother that was huddled scared and she was extremely protective over him. "Jim, they're not gonna tell you so I'm just gonna say it. You're scaring the kids. You're scaring Carl and you're scaring Sophia."

"They got nothing to be scared of...hey what the hell people I'm obviously not by myself so why don't you just go and leave me the hell alone."

"We think that you need to take a break. Hey why don't you go get some shade, some food. Maybe, I tell you what, maybe you help me a little bit. I'll come out and help. Maybe you could tell me what the hell you're digging for. Why don't you go ahead and give me that shovel," Shane started, only to be cut off by a threatened Jim.

"Or what?" He asked taking a step forward with shovel in hand.

"There is not 'or what'. I'm asking you. I'm coming to you and I'm asking you, please. I don't wanna have to take it from you," Shane continued on and just like that, Naomi turned and walked off with Lori and all of the kids. She didn't want to stick around and hear what was inevitably going to go down.

* * *

Everything seemed to settle down after Jim was tied to a tree to settle down. The fish were fried and everyone took the night off. The last bottles of beer were popped open and the long life juices were poured. Everyone was celebrating though they didn't now what. The different food maybe, the fact that someone they thought was dead was actually alive, or maybe even that hope was still existent whether they wanted to believe it or not. The air just felt so clear.  
Dale had even managed to sneak Amy and Naomi a beer each much to Lori's dismay. It wasn't like she was going to get drunk from one bottle of beer either. She was having a great time even though she knew that it would be better if Glenn, Rick and the others would be with them as well. Naomi had halved a fish with Amy but before she knew it, the two huge lines of now cooked fish were devoured. Not that she was complaining, anything was better than having their seemingly unlimited supply of beans.

"I have to ask," Morales started and everyone went silent, anticipating what he was going to say as he leant closer over to Dale. "It's been driving me crazy."

There was a hint of a smile on Dale's lips as he shrugged his shoulders. "What?" He asked.

"That watch."

Dale instantly looked down at his wrist with admiration. "What about my watch?"

"I see you, every day. Same time, winding that thing like a village priest saying mass," Morales grinned, scooping up some leftover fish from his plate and chewing on it intently, watching and waiting for Dale to explain himself.

Naomi couldn't help but finding himself nodding along with Andrea. "I've wondered this myself." She chimed in with a smile.

"I feel like I'm missing the point."

"Unless I've misread the signs the world...seems to have come to an end. At least it had been like this for a good while," Naomi went on as she took a sip from the bottle and grinned at her friend Amy.

"And then there's you, winding that stupid watch."

"Time," Dale interrupted, sitting back in his camp chair almost mesmerised by the flames flickering higher than ever in the fire pits.

Another great invention made by Morales it's like he has had everything planned out while the world literally fell to shit. He had graced the group with the tin can theory; lines of tin cans on the edges of the forest, used to alert anyone if walkers were to make their way into camp, then they would know that there was danger close by. Apparently that was supposed to do its job but it wasn't all around camp, just around the back near where the forest ended and the camp started. That guy really seemed to have his shit together. While the rest of the on dwindling population were running around like their heads were chopped off, he and a few other people were preparing to fight in the new world.

"It's important to keep track isn't it?" He went on, silencing Naomi's thoughts and dragging her back to reality. "The days at least. Don't you think Andrea? Back me up here."

Andrea laughed a little but didn't say a word, letting him fight his own battles.

"I like; I like what um...father said to son when he have them a watch that had been handed down from generations. He said 'I give you a mausoleum of all hope and desire which will fit your individual needs no better than it did mine; my fathers' before me. I give it to you, not that you would remember time but that you may forget it for a moment now and then and and not spend all of your breath trying to conquer it.'"

The group sat in silence for a while, soaking up what he had to say before Amy broke the silence saying, "You are so weird," She instantly lightened the weight of his words and the mood, making the group laugh.

"It's not me, it's Faulkner, William Faulkner. Or it might be my bad paraphrasing."

Drawing attention to herself by standing up, Andrea immediately asked her sister where she was going, drawing more attention to herself, her cheeks flushed red before she whispered. "I have to pee...jeez, you try to be discreet around here," And then walking off to the RV, the rest of the group giggling at the sister's antics.

Everything turned silent, everyone just enjoying the silence and peacefulness of the night. There was no rush for them to think of topics to talk of.

"We're out of toilet paper," They all heard Amy say that but before anyone could say anything back to her, she let out a blood curdling scream, everyone's attention drawn to it.

Naomi's heart sunk in her chest as she turned to see a walker ripping a chunk out of her friend's wrist that was rested against the RV door, she pulled away from the dead only to fall to the ground in obvious shock but still trying to get away. The whole group started scattering, terrified and not really knowing what to do. Naomi shot to her feet and stood behind Shane, Carl and Lori, protecting themselves from the fire of bullets coming from his shotgun. Looking beside her, she saw a baseball bat next to her and she pulled it into her grasp trying to remember the lessons that Glenn had taught her. She had to protect herself somehow and she didn't have a gun to waste bullets on.

 _"You have to keep your feet parted and always swing after your bat goes back up to over your shoulder that way the swing is harder and it'll make it easer to smash the geeks head in - wait haven't you ever played baseball in school or something?" She remembered Glenn saying, the two of them standing in the empty field not too far away from camp, Glenn holding the baseball bat limply in his hands._

 _She shrugged and smiled cheekily. "I never brought my PE clothes because I hated that class in school. Anything past the age of twelve, I blocked out."_

 _Sighing, Glenn handed her the bat. "Just try it...there's a difference between using this to protect yourself and using it to play sports."_

 _Rolling her eyes and clutching the bat in her hands, muttering a, "Yes sir," And then going into the position that he had instructed._

Bending as quickly as possible, Naomi grasped the bat in her hands and swung it over her shoulder, sticking behind Shane as closely as she possibly could. She was still behind Lori, Carl, Sophia and Carol who were all making their way to the RV. Apparently that was the safest place in that moment but truthfully nowhere was safe. And hiding in a small Winnebago would totally fix their problem. Amy was dead, as well as half of the camp most probably and walkers were destroying everything and all she could feel was shock. That was her in that situation, that was her friends getting attacked, that was Amy who was bitten. Forget all of those times that she felt powerless, that night, witnessing and feeling all of the distress Naomi felt empowered to do something to help.

Just to make matters worse, her self-procrastination was cut short by the fact that she realised that she got separated from the group. Making it to the Winnebago had just became a harder feat than she had first expected. Knowing that something could sneak up and attack her from behind if she didn't have her back protected, she backed herself into the closest tree, the wooden baseball bat wedged over her shoulder; ready to protect herself from the drooling freaks. Naomi heard more gunshots ripple through the air but really didn't think anything of it as she saw and heard a walker approaching from her right. Trying to remain as calm as possible even though her heart felt as if it may have ripped out of her chest at any moment, she forced herself to step out from her place and face the creature.

Adrenaline coursed through her veins as she raised the baseball bat even higher, ready for attack. She released the long breath that she didn't know that she had been holding and brought the bat down, whacking the thing in the head. It made a cracking sound but still continued to travel towards her. Naomi, stricken with nerves, hit again, harder that time and when it wavered a bit and her third strike knocked the walker to the ground. She continued to whack at it, hearing it groan under the pressure of her cracks and she didn't stop until she felt the squelch of its brains and soft tissue. Naomi looked down to see that she had killed it. She had done that, killed someone that was once human. She had _murdered._

Hands shaking and heaving oxygen into her lungs as if she was finally allowed to breathe after a long time, Naomi looked, spun around, ready and determined to destroy more walkers that were in between the path of her and her family. It was as if something clicked in her brain and her survival instincts kicked in for the first time since the world ended. Maybe that was because she was confronted and made to do something by herself but she was there, alive, standing and still breathing.

There were no more walkers. Naomi watched the last one fall at the hands of Daryl who was wilding a shotgun. They were back. They were back and everything had failed apart. They were back and they had helped them. Possibly even saved them, Naomi didn't know. Everything was happening so quickly.

"Carl! Lori! Naomi! Carl! Naomi!" She heard her father scream frantically, running through camp, Lori and Carl who were closer to the RV than she was got to him the fastest and Naomi raced to them.

It was like they were reuniting the day before but there was more urgency that night. They had a close encounter with walkers. They got attacked. Naomi needed her father He looked down at her with love in his eyes extremely thankful that his family wasn't dead or bit or hurt by walkers. All that they looked was scared and shaken up. He clutched onto his family tighter, not wanting to let go. Naomi shook under his grasp, the bat that she used as a weapon was next to her though she had no grasp on it. If she didn't do what she did back there, she would have been dead. No doubt about it. There were millions of thoughts running through her mind and Naomi couldn't focus on even one of them. It was all such a huge overload to her system.

"You're here you're okay," Rick whispered, relief clear in his voice as he looked down to his family once again, kissing Lori on her forehead to let her know that he was there.

"It was so close dad. So close," Naomi whispered in a shaky voice and for a second he eyed her with confusion. He didn't see any bite marks and then looked down at the bat that was sitting next to her. He instantly knew what she had done.

Killing a walker must've been easy for her to do. Rick knew his daughter, he knew how sensitive and caring she was and that she wouldn't have killed a walker before he found her again. She was smart and strong but he didn't think that killing a walker and ending something's life was in her capability range. Rick sighed, holding onto his daughter tightly to let her know that it was alright. It must have been such a shock for her to do what she did and he couldn't blame her for crying and acting the way that she did. Especially after the group had been attacked. She wasn't prepared to kill in that moment. She wasn't prepared for anything.

"It's alright," He whispered into her hair. "It's alright. You did what you needed to do."

She nodded, still shaking. Then all of the sudden her eyes widened and she began looking around panicked. "Where's Glenn? Is he alright? Did he come back to with you?" She asked frantically and Rick immediately went to calming her down.

"Shh, he's over there Naomi. He's safe," Rick ensured and let her fall out of his grasp, watching for a second to see Naomi walk quickly over to Glenn, the man that had once managed to save his arse and his own arse simultaneously. He watched until he knew for certain that his daughter was fade and then turned back to the rest of his family to make sure that they were still alright. The man had never been so on edge before in his life.

Glenn was crying. He was looking out at the scene before him with tears in his eyes. He was swaying from side to side, trying to make sense of what had just happened. He was looking out to see if any more walkers were to pop out and create even more grief for them. That was the last thing that he needed. Glenn needed Naomi. He knew that she was safe, he saw her with her family but he wanted her there with him. They needed each other's strength in that moment even if neither felt particularly strong.  
Even though she was walking right in front of his eye sight, Glenn didn't notice that Naomi was there until she had thrown her arms around him and squeezed. In an instant, Glenn had his arms around her as well. The shock of the situation seemed to hit him even more as he was with her. What had happened? How did such a large number of walkers go unattended by the person on watch? Was there even a person on watch? How did no one notice? Why did they lose so many good people? There were so many questions running through both of their heads that neither wanted or needed to answer in that moment.

The two didn't stay in silence for long though. Glenn pulled away from their embrace and scanned her for injuries. She was covered in blood, shaking like a leaf in heavy wind and had a bruise on her cheek.

"What happened? What happened Naomi? Are you alright? Are you hurt?" He asked desperately, pulling her into his chest again to try and quell her fear.

Naomi nodded. "I'm okay. I'm fine," She said in a strong voice and then, upon hearing Andrea's despaired voice call out to Amy to come back Naomi crumbled, putting her head into his chest even more as if that were going to shield her from the pain that she was feeling. "Amy's dead. She got bit and now she's dead," She cried, sobs exiting her body uncontrollably. She was ugly crying which Naomi never did.

Glenn stayed silent and just hugged her to his chest even harder.

* * *

Naomi was sure that nobody slept that night. Daryl and T-Dog took watch over the camp and Shane and Rick told everyone to go and try and get some shut eyes. Everyone knew that it wasn't going to happen even it they wanted to. They were all on high alert and had good reason to be. She just sat in her sleeping bag atop of her cot with Glenn for the entirety of the rest of the darkness and until it was an acceptable time to leave their tent and assist with the clean-up. Neither talked that night, just sat there and waited in silence. Everything that could have been asked wouldn't have been answered properly as they both weren't in the correct mindsets to speak their mind and the truth.

The sun had finally risen enough for them to go out and help remove the bodies from their camp. People were already up and Glenn didn't even have to tell her that he was going out, she knew as she was doing the same thing. Before either exited, Naomi looked down at her shirt that was covered in blood and sighed.

"I have to get a new shirt," She told him, turning to grab her bag for a fresh shirt.

Before she could get it though, Glenn instantly got up and caught her arm. "You can borrow one of mine," He said, grabbing a clean shirt that he had yet to pack away and threw it at her. She caught it gratefully and shot him a thankful nod.

"Thanks," She whispered.

Naomi pulled off her dirty top and wiped the dried blood from her arms as well as she could with the cleaner parts of it before abandoning it on the floor. The new top that she slipped over her head felt soft on her skin and smelt just like Glenn. It was too big for her but it felt nice to snuggle into it.

"I was meaning to ask...what happened to your cheek?" Glenn asked as she turned and was ready to leave.

She froze and remembered that she got slapped by Ed the day before. That seemed like it had happened years ago, like it had faded into the back of her memory and she had no concept of the time that had passed. Naomi figured that it was just because she had become distracted from the attack the night before. It would surely have bruised but she didn't have a mirror to make sure of it. There was obviously a mark of some sorts there if Glenn noticed and thought that it was bad enough to ask her about it.

"Oh uh, Ed did it. We we all standing up for Carol yesterday and he just...got angry," Naomi explained, her expression was hard for Glenn to read and he just nodded along.

Of course he was angry, but there wasn't anything that he could do about it...especially if Ed got attacked and torn apart in pieces by walkers. There was nothing that Glenn could do because the fucker was dead. That being said, it made him angry that he was glad about was the fact that she wasn't seriously injured by him. It shouldn't have to be that way.

"Okay. Hey Naomi, are you alright?" Glenn instantly regretted asking that question because of course she wasn't okay. She had just witnessed something terrifying and then one of her close friends died at the hands of a walker. No one could come away from that with a smile on their faces. She just looked the most sad that he had never seen her and wanted to try and take away or at least lessen the pain that she was without a doubt feeling.

Naomi nodded but even she knew that it wasn't convincing. "Yeah I'm fine. Are you alright?"

"Yeah. Let's just go and get this clean up started huh," He said, leaning over and unzipping the tent flap, letting the lady go first like the true gentleman that he was.

While the camp was bustling with people cleaning up from the previous events, there was an aura to the area, like all of the good and fun memories they had were outweighed by the bad of the devastating night. It didn't feel like a place where the could stay anymore. It gave Naomi shivers as she stepped out of the tent and into the area. Nothing seemed right. It all seemed wrong and out of place. Naomi choked back a sob when she saw that Amy was still lying in the same position near the Winnebago and Andrea was still knelt frozen beside her.  
The brunette had no idea what it must have felt like to have a family member ripped away from you by a walker. She would never have the faintest idea what that would be like. But Naomi was traumatised just to see her there, pale and covered in her own blood. It sucked that she had to see the bite wounds that had teared at the perfect complexion of her skin. If Amy were still alive in that moment, she would be trying to liven up the mood as always, she would be trying to make her sister of Naomi laugh or even crack a smile. Amy wasn't there to do that anymore.

Dead bodies were scattered around the ground. The group numbers had decreased quite a bit due to the attack. Everyone looked scared and unsettled as they worked together and Naomi wanted to turn back and go and hide in their tent again. She wanted to shield herself against the feeling that everyone had but instead Naomi forced herself to walk forward. She had to get brave and stop running from made her scared. Naomi walked forward. She knew that her brother and the rest of the kids were in the RV with Carol where it was safer, the rest were either out there with her or still in their tents. Her mother and father were out with Shane, talking about something and neither one of them looked pleased. With a shake of her head, Naomi focused herself on the task ahead. Walkers to the burn pile; that was her job. The things that killed were going to be burnt.

The fire was yet to be started as there wasn't enough bodies to fuel the flames. She was glad that she had time to work up to the more than putrid smell that would permeate all around camp. There would be no satisfaction in that.

Dale was on top of the the TV as she had expected; he looked more paranoid than ever. T-Dog was helping Daryl and Jim to make sure that the walkers that were killed were actually dead. Glenn threw her a pair of gloves which she caught and slid onto her hands. The two began joining the rest of them in dragging the walkers to the pile. It was a task that needed to be done in pairs. They were heavy, heavier than Naomi had anticipated. After every body cleared, she was a mess of panting and sweat.

When the pile became large enough, Glenn started splashing around gas. Getting Naomi to step back a bit, he lit a match and threw it in. It lit up and instantly started crackling. With a gag, Naomi pulled the oversized shirt over her nose to try and block out the horrible smell that was already starting to bubble around her. Nothing could describe how bad it smelt.

She froze though when T-Dog and Daryl started to drag a body of their own to the pule. They weren't a walker that stumbled in and attacked them that night; they were a camp member. Shy yet smart Sadie that spent her time in her tent and away from others. The recluse. She had died and they were going to throw her into a fire rather than give her a proper burial like every single one of the people that resided in their camp deserved. Anger began to bubble up in her that they could just act so disrespectfully. Naomi shared the same look with Glenn but he beat her to it before she could even say anything. He was too angry to contain it. Too hurt to disguise what he was feeling. It all just came out.

"Hey what are you guys doing? This is for geeks. Our people go over there," Glenn told them, catching them off guard making Daryl and T-Dog stop just before they could throw her limp body into the fire.

"What's the difference, they're all infected," Daryl told him carelessly, indicating at him with his head to continue dragging the body.

Glenn grabbed Daryl's shoulder and stopped him from moving forward any closer to the fire. "Our people go in that row over there. We don't burn them! We bury them. Understand? Our people go in that row over there," He demanded, voice breaking and thick with emotion. Naomi had never seem him look so annoyed yet upset at the same time.

Complying, though Daryl was swearing under his breath the whole time, they dragged the lifeless body of Sadie to the pile where she was supposed to be in the first place. Naomi knew that Glenn was close to breaking down, tears were welling in his eyes and she walked over to him, resting her head on his collarbones and one of her hands resting on his arm.

"Thank you, thank you," Was all that she said and that was all that needed to be said before they got back to work.

While they went back to work, the others started to discuss Amy's fate. Andrea had sat with her younger sister the whole night, watching over her dead sister. It was inevitable that Amy was going to turn and become a walker but the way that they were talking about just ending it without Andrea's consent was just wrong. It wasn't right.  
As they put down another body, Naomi sighed and paused to wipe a few stray tears from her cheeks and she looked away. She looked away from the discussion that was taking place and trying her absolute hardest to tune out of it. She didn't want to hear. Knowing that she was crying, Glenn put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed, letting her know that he was there. Instead of turning around and hugging him for the millionth time that day, she walked over to the huge pile of dead and went back to dragging them around; Glenn was by her side instantly to continue helping.

"I'll be back in a second I just have to do something over there," Glenn said, pointing over to where Morales stood and Naomi nodded finding something to do in the meantime.

Bending down next to one of the deceased, Naomi began to check to their pockets. She wanted to find something, anything to put as a marker for this person's grave. So that they could be identified and just as a sign of respect quite simply. If he was religious than a cross would be made. They had to show their respect for the people that they lost. Hearing someone walk over to her, she looked up and saw Jim approaching. He was panting from over extortion in the heat and seemed to be sweating from head to toe. it was hot, but not to the point where one was that sweaty. She was about to say something, greet him or whatever before her gaze was drawn to the blood that stained his shirt. Some fresh blood. Looking up at him, she raised her eyebrows in concern.

"Are you bleeding?" She asked quickly.

He shook his head, but his facial expression said otherwise. "I just got some on me from the bodies."

She narrowed her eyes. There was no way that it was walkers blood. It was definitely fresh. "That blood is fresh," And then she thought of the possibilities of how he could have gotten hurt and especially in the area that it was. "Were you bit?"

"No," She looked at him, her expression telling him that she did not believe what he just said. "I got scratched during the attack," He finally admitted.

Gasping, Naomi scuttled away from him on her knees. "You got bit," She hissed incredulously, eyes wide as she stared up at the man.

"I'm fine."

"Then show me," She said louder than necessary, drawing eyes from onlookers and that was when Jim started to panic.

He plead with her. "Please don't tell the others."

Stumbling away from the man and onto her feet, Naomi started to call out to everyone desperately. "A walker got Jim. A walker bit Jim."

Everyone started to crowd around him and Naomi ran away and over to her father who stepped in front of her protectively. As T-Dog, Daryl and Shane started to crowd around him to see the bite, Rick turned to look at her. His eyes were filled with worry.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

She nodded, her eyes flitting back and forwards from her father to the scene in front of them. "I'm fine. Go," Naomi told him, allowing him to go and help like he really wanted to and he rushed forward.

Naomi had wondered how long he had been hiding it. How close he was before he would die. There was no cure, if anyone was bit, they would just end up dying and turning.  
T-Dog pinned Jim back and Daryl lifted up his shirt to reveal a nasty bite. The area around it was swollen and risen, bleeding and there were distinct teeth marks marring the skin. Everyone seemed to let out audible sighs as they saw it. When they all let him go, he stumbled around trying to gain his balance back while mumbling to himself that he was alright over and over again like some sort of sick mantra. But everyone knew that he wasn't going to be alright.

Rick had managed to get Jim sitting down on a crate next to the RV while the rest of the group discussed what they were going to have to do next and what steps they would have to take.

"I say we put a pickaxe in his head and the dead girls and be done with it," Daryl said and Naomi cast a sad look at her deceased friend who still hadn't turned. That was not his decision to put her down. He didn't know her and he wasn't her family.

"You'd want that if that was you?" Shane shot back sparing a disgusted glance at him.

Daryl nodded almost eagerly. "Yeah...and I'd be thanking ya while ya did it."

"I hate to say it and I never thought I would be agreeing with him but maybe Daryl's right-"

"Jim's not a monster Dale, or some rabid dog," Rick cut in, his voice dry and not tolerating the selfish thoughts that Daryl or Dale expressed to the group.

"That is what I me-"

"He is a sick, sick man. We go down that road where do we draw the line?" Naomi had never seen her father get so worked up before that even Lori had to try and calm him down. He was adamant to treat humans like humans and no other way.

"The line's pretty clear. Zero tolerance for walkers or walkers to be."

"What if we can get him help? I heard the CDC was working on a cure."

"We heard that too. We heard a lot of things before the world went to hell," Naomi pitched in stubbornly. If there was a cure, you'd think that someone wold be doing something about it. Not just letting the survivors rot and try to survive by themselves.

"And what if the CDC is still up and running?" Rick said, spinning to challenge his daughter.

"Then that is a stretch right there," Shane said.

"Why? If there's any Government left, any structure at all they'd protect the CDC at all costs wouldn't they. I think it's our best shot. Shelter. Protection," Rick went on. It was as if he was trying to plead his case, to make people understand. It wasn't really working that well though.

"You want those things okay? I do too. Now if they exist they're at the army base. Fort Benning."

"That's a hundred miles in the opposite direction," Lori said standing by her husband. Obviously that did not sit well with Shane though as he scoffed and rubbed at the back of his head.

"That is right. But it is in the hot zone. Now listen to me if that place is operational it would be heavily armed. We'd be safe there," Naomi honestly doubted that a place he had never seen or been to before was as safe as he chalked it up to be. How could he make a promise that seemed almost impossible to keep?

"The military were on the front lines of this thing. They got overrun. We've all seen that The CDC's our best chance and Jim's only chance."

The little group stood silently for a few seconds, the tension strewn through the air before Dixon started talking using a tough and a slightly annoyed voice, "You go looking for aspirin, do what you need to. Somebody needs to have some balls and take care of this damn problem," He yelled, moving as close to Jim as he could get, pickaxe raised in a threatening motion. He was about to make the move before Rick Grimes stopped him with his colt python cocked against his head. Daryl knew that if he even tried to do anything, his life would end at the hands of the supposedly fearless cop.

"We don't kill the living," He hissed at Shane made the moved in front of Jim and Daryl dropped the weapon to his side, turning to glare at Rick.

"That's funny coming from a man that just put a gun to my head," Daryl did have a point there, Naomi thought to herself as she stood back and out of the direct danger with Glenn and Jacqui.

"We may not agree on most things, not this. You put it down. Go on," Shane said and the Dixon sneered before through the pickaxe down with all of his strength like a child who didn't get their way and he stormed off.

Rick moved Jim to the RV where it was safer and everyone continued on doing their assigned jobs. They still had a hell of a lot to do before they could leave; wherever they go.

They had finished burning the walkers and the bodies from their camp were to be taken up to the graves dug using T-Dog's truck much to his dismay. The plan of where to go was still undecided but the group moved on, packing its things and loading up cars ready for when it was decided. The room that they had was sparse but they had to manage. They had to do it because they sure as hell couldn't stay where they were. The quarry was no longer safe.

Amy still hadn't turned and Naomi began to wonder if Andrea would put her sister down before she rose or if she would let her bite her. Or even worse, if Andrea put a bullet in Amy's brain and then plant one in her own. With a shake of her head Naomi ceased her thoughts and continued to shove her bag with her possessions in the trunk of her parent's car. It was full with all of their stuff but she managed to get her bag in with a bit of elbow grease, swearing and a whole lot of shoving.

When Naomi was finished shoving her shit into the car, she made her way over to Glenn who was winding the string cans from around camp and started to help him. All was silent, the two just helping each other, not knowing that her parents were standing together by the RV looking over at them with small, knowing smiles on their faces. Watching them was so different, the way that they worked together, hugged and showed emotions told them that they were more than just friends; whether they knew or admitted it just yet.

Turning around, they went to put the equipment away back in the RV only for Glenn to run into the back of Naomi as she froze.

"Ow what the hell?" Glenn groaned, rubbing at his forehead as that had come into contact with the bony part of her shoulder.

Not responding to his questioning, a confused Glenn stepped around Naomi to see what was going on only to hear growling from the newly reanimated Amy. She was a ghastly pale and rising from her position on the ground. Walker Amy was sitting up to grab at her sister. Knowing what was going to happen next, Glenn grabbed the coiled cans from her hands and set them on the ground below before turning a shocked Naomi around so that she couldn't see and encasing her slim body into his arms. He told her not to look, not try to look as Andrea raised her gun, mumbled a few words and pulled the trigger. The gunshot pop echoed through Naomi's eardrums and she jumped, the sound had filled her aching heart but she couldn't help but feel like Amy was in a better place. That her pain had finally ended.

Because Amy had passed on for good, the funeral was finally ready to be had. All of the graves were dug, the bodies were moved up to be properly buried.

Naomi chose to tune out while Daryl made untasteful comments and Rick and Lori defended their actions. She was only focused on getting through the funerals so that they could all move on. A few stray tears created a trail down her cheeks as she watched Andrea struggle with her little sister's dead body trying to get her into her grave. There was a sheet covering her face but the blood was already starting to seep through so Naomi couldn't not be reminded of what had happened. Standing by their graves, crossing her arms gingerly over her chest, only for them to be brought back down by Glenn as he held her hand in comfort as she decided to wipe the tears from her face and say a final goodbye to her friend Amy.

When they were truly ready to go, Shane admitted that the CDC was the better option and that Fort Benning would be used as a back-up plan if it didn't go right. Naomi was glad that she could use that time to catch up on some much needed sleep.

Naomi watched silently, her back leaning against the RV as Morales explained that he wouldn't be going to the CDC. He, Miranda and their kids would be going to find some of their family that they had lost connections with when they world fell down. Rick and Shane looked at him like he was doing the wrong thing and making the wrong decision but they didn't object. It was his choice and not theirs. They wouldn't be able to talk him out of it anyway.

"I have to do what's right for my family," Morales stated sadly but strongly as everyone bid goodbye to them.

Some of the people may have thought that they would cross paths again one day but Naomi didn't believe in that. No matter how small the world had become, it was hard to believe that you would see something after you lost them.

With that, they all piled into vehicles and began their long journey to the CDC.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

Sitting next to Glenn at the small, wooden table built into the RV, Naomi couldn't help letting out exhausted yawns every five minutes as her head softly rested on her best friend's shoulder. The only reason that she was still awake was the bumpy road, rocks hitting the canvas walls and Jim's groans of anguish and pain as they moved over every pothole and bump in the road. Her stomach was grumbling; head pounding along with her heart that didn't seem to want to calm itself down. It seemed to pick up speed every time she almost surrendered to sleep but got brought back to reality. Every second she spent in silence she could hear the horrified screams of Amy as she lived out the last moments of her life. She knew that that night would plague her dreams and Naomi was fearful of that.

"You know you can go to sleep. We have ages to drive. Hours probably," Dale pitched in from the driver's seat, looking back into the rest of the vehicle but was mainly focusing on Naomi who looked like she was about to pass out and roll out of her seat.

He was about to go on but through his side mirror, he saw her finally succumb to sleep, slumping against Glenn so much that he had to grab hold of her each time they turned a corner.

A knowing smile on his lips, Dale couldn't help but feel happy for them. They were so close in such a short time. They were the good in a world full of bad. A breath of fresh air. And from the looks of it, they would do anything for each other. The thing that everyone could see was just friends, even her parents. The little things they would do. hug, comfort, they would save each other food on a regular basis and share tents...hell Naomi was even wearing one of Glenn's shirts. The only thing that worried him was how her parents would react to their intimacy. He could tell how protective they were over both of their children. He just hoped that whatever the young adults chose to do, it wouldn't hurt the wellbeing of their group.

Naomi was awoken about half an hour later at the sound of Jim's groaning getting louder and louder. Her eyes opened to see that he was getting moved out of the RV, arms hooked awkwardly over Shane and Rick. Confusion strung through her veins as she wondered what was happening and why Glenn didn't wake her up sooner. But obviously the bite was affecting him a lot more than anyone was expecting him to be. Rick had hoped that he would make it to the CDC but the way it was looking that wasn't going to happen.

She stumbled out of her seat, following after them. She stopped next to Glenn and looked at him in confusion. "What's happening?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "He couldn't take it anymore," He stated simply as they looked on at the scene.

"And you didn't wake me up because?"

"You needed sleep?"

"Right," Naomi rolled her eyes. "You didn't wake me up when one of the members of our group is being left behind because I need sleep. Makes sense. What else did I miss?"

Glenn knew that she was on edge and so didn't try to push her any further. "The RV broke down and we had to jury rig the hose again. It's started though so don't worry, we're going to get to the CDC...if it's still there that is."

Naomi groaned. "Great so now you don't think that the CDC is even going to be there when we arrive," Grumpy, sleep deprived Naomi was a bitch to deal with and even she knew that.

"I'm just being realistic Naomi. I mean I hope that it's there. We've come so far and we need somewhere to stay," He told her, his eyes looking at the bruise that popped up even more than when he last asked her about it. "Jeez Naomi that looks really bad in this light. Does it hurt?" He asked with concern, reaching forward to try and touch it. She jerked out of his reach with a glare cast at him.

"It's fine, I'm fine just leave it," She snapped and then shook her head, smoothing the tousled strange back into her ponytail but it proved unsuccessful because the steaming heat that made her curly hair even frizzier. "I don't know either Glenn. If you think that place is still there then why haven't we heard about any of this, why was this not talked about. It probably already fell. But you know, gotta be hopeful and all that shit," Naomi told him sarcastically, brushing past him and retiring back to the RV.

Glenn scratched the back of his head in confusion as he watched her go. She really was grumpy when she was tired. He sighed because she did have a point. It was understandable how she had no hope or very little left about the whole situation. She was still in shock from the attack, still scared that she would lose more people or a walker would attack her when she turned her back or even closed her eyes. Glenn was told by Naomi that she had taken down a walker and she couldn't help but feel proud that she had the strength to protect herself. It had been a scary few days so he couldn't blame her. It didn't mean that it hadn't made him feel bad when she walked away from him.

Everyone said goodbye to Jim as he peacefully leant against a tree on the edge of the forest. It was as if he was at peace with the fact that he wasn't going to live on in this world. With all of their gear packed up, they were ready to continue their journey to the CDC. Glenn cast one sad look at Jim and piled into the RV, Naomi, who had come out to say her parting words to the dying man, following after him. They both slid into the booth were they previously were without talking a word to one another.  
The RV rumbled to a start thank god and they followed after Rick and Lori's car, continuing their journey.

"We're gonna be alright," Glenn tried to reassure her even though he didn't know himself how the CDC would turn out. He was just as scared as she was.

"You keep telling yourself that," She sighed, crossing her arms and closing her eyes, allowing herself herself to fall back asleep.

* * *

When the daylight melted away after hours of sitting in the stuffy RV in silence, the CDC finally entered their sights and Dale turned on the breaks and cast a nervous look over at Andrea and then back to Jacqui, Naomi and Glenn. As Naomi woke Jacqui from her slumber, Glenn told them to leave their bags in the cars and they would get them once they were guaranteed safety. Apparently they had the same idea as they met up together except for Rick who had his gun bag slung over his shoulder and Andrea who had insisted that her bag was to travel with her at all times.

Making their way over to the large building, weaving underneath the boom gates and past the dead military soldiers who were currently swarmed in large flies and litter straying on the streets, chip packets and large plastic bags crunching under her feet with each step that she took. There was something rather unsettling about walking the streets at night, like anything could jump out of the shadows and attack Naomi. All that she had to protect herself with was a metal baseball bat. And Naomi was one hundred percent positive that she wouldn't be able to protect herself if a walker grabbed a hold of her or snuck up on her, her reflexes weren't that fantastic. So instead of walking off like Andrea or Daryl did, Naomi stuck to Glenn because he had hold of a gun which he did know how to shoot and was way more experienced than her in those type of situations. He had been in Atlanta before and she hadn't.

Rounding the corner, they were face to face with some shuttered large doors. Naomi wasn't sure what anyone else thought that it would look like because they didn't look at all disappointed. It was just another dead end. She began to look around at her surroundings. They had hardly any of their vehicles so they wouldn't be able to travel that far. Scout around locally while staying somewhere partially safe. Everyone began arguing, Shane telling Rick that they had to go, Daryl yelling about walkers, Rick then exclaiming that the small security camera moved only to be shot down by everyone because how could an automated camera prove that there was life inside. Naomi doubted that there was actually life inside of that large building, and if there was, then why would they want to let some strangers with children in.  
The group tried to retreat but Rick held them back. He wasn't moving to get away, instead he began to pound at the doors as if demanding entrance. He looked like a lunatic, and the way that Carl was cowering into Lori, he was scared by their father's actions.

"You're killing us! You're killing us!" He screamed until Shane finally decided to grab him and try to drag him away telling the others to retreat and get back to their cars.

Everyone had begun to move away; had given up on a lost cause. But as soon as Naomi turned away to leave, a metallic sound filled the air and bright lights cast shadows on the pavement in front of them.

The doors had opened.

Hope rose in Naomi Grimes' chest as she slowly turned around to face the doors, as if she went any faster than it would close again. They were all staring into the vast white light. The light dimmed as their eyes adjusted and they all rushed into the large, space room that echoed their footsteps like a perfect melody.

"Hello?" Rick called out, walking nervously in front of his group, rifle raised threateningly. "Hello?"

"Close those doors, watch for walkers!" Dale ordered lowly as the rest of the group stared around in awe at the shiny walls and tiled flooring. Naomi felt as if she wasn't allowed to be in there, to touch anything, afraid that she would stain it with her dirt cracked fingers.

They were all silenced as one man's voice rung out. "Whoa!" Everyone turned, trying to find him, his face half darkened in the shadows almost as if to protect his identity. "Anyone infected?" He demanded with a raised shotgun.

Rick hesitated. "One of our group was...he didn't make it," Though Naomi wondered why he even revealed the state of their left behind friend.

"Why are you here, what do you want?"

"A chance."

The man cocked his head. "That's asking an awful lot these days."

"I know."

The man paused, looking over at the vulnerable children cowering in their mother's arms, the group looking dead on their feet, some even malnourished and thin. "You all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission."

Rick nodded, keeping his eyes steady on the man. "We can do that."

"You got stuff to bring in, you do it now. Once these doors close they stay closed," He ordered, lowering his weapon and taking a step closer to Rick. Everyone let out a sigh of relief as they don't have to fight through the night any longer.

Naomi started to move to get her bags until Glenn grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "I'll get your stuff. It's dangerous out there."

She couldn't help but feel angry that he treated her like she couldn't protect herself or anyone else around her. But she was far too tired and hungry to point that out to him. She was tired of looking like a bitch for trying to stand up for herself. So instead she hung back and stayed close to Sophia and Carol, but close enough to the two large doors so that she could pull them closed when everyone was safe inside. Naomi did just that when they all rushed back inside with bags in their arms and under their arms, hauling everything to the building of the CDC.  
With the doors closed and away from the possible walker threat, she grabbed her heavy shoulder bag from Glenn and lugging it over her shoulder despite the fact that her head was practically spinning from the tiredness. It seemed as if no matter how much she slept, she would wake up feeling even more exhausted. It was exhausting even thinking about it. Glenn shot her a concerned look which she completely ignored. Her gaze followed to the man who had greeted them at the doors and was patiently waiting for them to gather their things. He saved their lives so she couldn't complain.

"Rick Grimes," Her father introduced, holding out his hand to shake with a grateful expression letting the CDC man know that he was thankful for his acts of kindness.

The man stood close to him, eyes flickering from her father's hand to his face before shaking his hand finally. "Doctor Jenner," He replied, ushering the group away from the doors and over to an elevator.

Naomi figured out from her foggy brain that they would have to be going underground and it unsettled her somewhat that the would be ultimately trapped if anything went wrong. The elevator was cramped with the large amount of people in it and everyone was awkwardly silent as no one knew what to say. They were all revelling in the fact that they were safe away from the constant threat of walkers that would have taken them for sure. Naomi was hopeful that the place would be safer than being back at the quarry.

Though, as per usual. the silence never lasted long and Daryl opened his mouth to talk. "Doctor's always go around packing heat like that?"

"Well there were plenty left lying around. I familiarised myself. But you look harmless enough...except you," Jenner said, looking down at Carl with a tiny smirk pulling at the corner of his lips. "I'll have to keep my eyes on you," Carl smiled at that, looking over at Naomi who was too physically and emotionally tired to smile but she did gently nudge her brother in his back to tell him that she was still there supporting him.

The elevator hit the desired floor pretty quickly and they all got out, following Doctor Jenner as he left them somewhere, probably to take their blood, something Naomi wasn't too keen on doing.

"Are we underground?" Carol asked, pulling her exhausted daughter along by her hand. The little girl clutching onto the doll that Eliza gave her as a parting gift before they all left the quarry. She was attached to the hip with that doll.

"Are you claustrophobic?" He asked, looking back at her from his sport leading in front of everyone.

"A little," She replied back timidly.

"Try not to think about it," He told her and Naomi fought the urge to snort at the bullshit that just left his mouth. Telling someone not to think about something that makes them scared is only going to draw more attention to her thinking about it and getting even more anxious.

"Vi," He called out. "Turn on the lights in the big room."

Naomi wondered who this "Vi" person was and whether or not they would become a threat. She also expected to see scientists working on a cure on their computers, desks and wheeling work chairs but entered the room to find it empty. It was extremely eerie and felt as if it had been abandoned for a long time. She blinked, hoping that when they re-opened the place would be packed with workers only to be disappointed when realising that it was the depressing truth. Where was everyone? Was this some kind of sick joke? Were they stuck in this nightmare forever?"

"Welcome to Zone Five," He said.

"Where is everybody? The other doctors, staff?" Rick asked as he looked around the room, following after Jenner to where they stopped at the rows of desks, the others trailing warily behind him.

Jenner sighed and held out his hands, shaking his head solemn as if delivering bad news to some children. "I'm it. It's just me here."

Naomi felt sick. They had travelled that far and lost Jim for one doctor, she shook her head in disbelief. It couldn't be that way. He had to be hiding something. The way that he had avoided eye contact must have meant something.

She looked around desperately trying to find answers. "What about the people you were speaking with...Vi?" She asked almost desperately, casting looks over to Glenn who sent her back a comforting glance and she tried to calm her pounding heartbeat with her left hand. She really needed a glass of water.

"Vi," Jenner announced, looking around the room. "Say hello to our guests, tell them...welcome."

Her stomach dropped when she heard an automated female monotone voice through the speakers planted around the large room. The voice rang out from everywhere and felt like a punch in the gut just to add to her disappointment. "Hello guests. Welcome."

Jenner almost looked sorry for them. "I'm all that's left. I'm sorry."

* * *

"What's the point? If we were infected we would be running a fever," Naomi sulked while weakly clutching at her jeans and letting out a small hiss as the needle struck a vein in her left arm.

"I've broken every rule in the book by letting you all be in here, at least let me be thorough," He said, pulling out the needle and tapping the blood in the vial. "All done," He told Naomi cheerfully though she felt anything but that in that moment.

The ground spun underneath her feet in an unsteadying manner and she braced at the chair arms when she stood to try to calm herself down. She was just tired and hungry. Just tired and hungry. As soon as she stood, Naomi started to lean forward as if she were about to fall, her legs feeling like jelly. A part of her was almost disappointed when Jacquie grabbed her arm to stop her from falling. It seemed easier just to lay on the ground in that moment rather than pushing through the pain. She put on a front for her brother even though she needed to vomit up any leftover substances in her stomach and cry. If anything, Naomi had to be okay for him. He was far too fragile.

"She okay?" Jenner asked as Naomi was released from the other lady's grasp. Naomi didn't answer his question, instead moving cautiously over to Glenn and resting her head on his shoulder gently. He let her, his hand on her back to support her in case she had anymore dizzy spells.

"She hasn't eaten in days. None of us have," Jacquie said, laying the lies on thick. Naomi guessed saying that there were weak would get them food for which she didn't mind at all.

Naomi even nodded along with her to verify the lie even further. She just wanted to sit down to some nice food for once. Hopefully it wasn't any of that gross tin can food. Her palate was getting sick of constantly ingesting beans.

"I think I have something to help with that," Jenner said, ushering them out of their positions to follow after him.

The hallways were winding paths that seemed to further confuse Naomi in that moment as she stumbled after him. Turning to the right, he opened a door that led them into a large space. There were unoccupied tables and chairs and the kitchen area was clean and screaming to be cooked in. He opened a cupboard filled with considerable amounts of rations. They would surely have a bigger feast than the fish fry the previous night. Hopefully it would also be more positive.

It didn't take them long at all to spring into action. Carol was actually smiling. The first proper smile she had given anyone since the death of her husband back at the quarry. Naomi thought that there must have been off of her shoulders not to have to worry about her controlling husband any longer but a part of her could understand why she would grieve for him as well. It was a complicated situation but she was just glad to see Carol move on with her life. She was a strong woman that was for sure.  
And she did know how to whip up some great spaghetti in little to no time. It was some of the best food that she had eaten since the fall. Except for, well, the candy bar that Glenn had let her have one day after he lost a bet. It would probably be one of the last times that she would eat something that sweet. But Naomi could get used to eating Carol's cooking every night.

Right at that moment Naomi sat quiet next to Glenn as she watched her mother protectively try to stop Dale giving Carl some of the wine that had been portioned out largely to all of the adults. The room was buzzing in excitement and Naomi couldn't help but to feel amused while watching her brother and mother bicker.

"Kids in France or Italy drink wine," Dale informed her with a smile. Lori just glared protectively back at him.

She shook her head. "Yeah when Carl's in France he can have wine then," It was a bargain that everyone knew Lori didn't have to hold up.

Carl threw his head back and groaned, pointing at his older sister who was too distracted laughing at Glenn who had stolen her bottle and was drinking from it while she had his glass of wine. "But Naomi gets to drink!" He whined.

"Well, she's old enough to drink though. You'll just have to wait until you're twenty-one."

Handing Naomi her bottle back, Glenn grinned at her cheekily. "You're old now. Haha," He was getting intoxicated, it wasn't hard to tell but it was awfully funny and Naomi had to hold back a laugh that wanted to erupt. God, he was such a lightweight like she had expected.

She rolled her eyes at him playfully, already feeling the buzz of the alcohol and motioned to around her face at Glenn whose was covered in pasta sauce. "Shut up and clean your face. It looks like you put your face in it," She told him, handing Glenn a napkin and he clumsily wiped at his mouth although he really didn't care that much.

Rick shook his head at the bickering between his family, a small smile on his lips and feeling intoxicated and carefree in that moment. "Let him," Lori looked at him uncertainly and he just shrugged his shoulders. "C'mon, c'mon."

Lori laughed, peer pressured and took her hand off of Carl's cup, allowing a small amount to be poured into it. The room silenced, the spotlight was on him as he raised the glass to his lips and took a small hesitant sip. He blanched, his face screwed up cutely in disgust as he exclaimed about how gross it was and chugging his soda to get rid of the taste. Naomi started laughing as she slapped Glenn on the shoulder in amusement. Lori was patting Carl's back proudly.

"How do you even drink that stuff?" He asked, gaze fixed straight on his older sister intently.

She shrugged her shoulders. "It gets better when you're older trust me."

"You should stick to soda pop until then bud," Shane chimed in, though he kept his eyes glued on Lori who looked really uncomfortable under his gaze.

"Not you though," Daryl said, surprising everyone as he pointed towards Glenn while holding a large wine bottle. "I wanna see how red your face can get," That comment made the rest of the group laugh even more.

All problems were pushed to the side in that moment. Glenn turned red in embarrassment as Naomi patted him on the shoulder as tears started to stream down her face from laughing so hard at the expense of her best friend.

Rick drew his attention away from the embarrassed Glenn by clinking his fork on his glass, motioning for silence as he stood. "It seems to me we haven't thanked our host properly," He said, looking to the man who was sitting in the back of the room away from everyone like a recluse.

"This man is more than just our host," T-Dog slurred, looking very calm in that moment.

"Here, here!" Dale chirped, raising his glass with the rest of the group in thanks.

"Booyah!" Daryl exclaimed and they all laughed, copying his words of appreciation. Naomi liked the more relaxed Daryl after he had chugged some wine.

"So when are you gonna tell us what the hell happened here doc?" Shane's voice rung out, silencing the happiness and the light atmosphere almost instantly. "All the uh, the other doctors. They were supposed to be figuring out what happened. Where are they?" He asked, staring darkly down at his wine.

Naomi sighed, the mood being thoroughly defeated as her father piped in. "We're supposed to be celebrating Shane. No need to do this now."

"Whoa wait a second. This is why we're here. This was your move. We're supposed to find all the answers instead...well we found him," He laughed, pointing to Jenner like he was some kind of idiot. "We found one man. Why?"

"Well when things got bad a lot of them just...left. Went off to be with their families. And when things got worse when the military cordon got overrun the rest bolted."

"Every last one?" Shane smirked, shifting in his seat to get comfortable.

Jenner shook his head. "No. Many couldn't face walking out the door. They...opted out. There was a rash of suicides. That was a bad time," He admitted with a frown.

"You didn't leave. Why?" Andrea asked.

"I just kept working. Hoping to do some good," Jenner said and he sounded honest.

Silence strung through the air and Naomi was right, the celebrating, bubbly mood had vanished to make room for the dark, depressing reality they had to live through. Naomi thought they could escape it for just one night. She suddenly lost her appetite, feeling slightly sick as she pushed her half full bowl of pasta away and pulled the glass of wine closer to her. Naomi kept her head down and away from Shane. They did not need to know that information.

Glenn sighed as well and pulled the wine glass closer in his grasp. "Dude you are such a buzzkill man," He said and Naomi had to hold in a laugh because he was one hundred percent correct.

A little while later Jenner showed them around to the sleeping facilities. Most of the people were either drunk or dead on their feet so Jenner thought it a good time to show them to where they were going to stay in that moment. That way he could also get away from his conscience and away from the people that to have a moment by himself. He needed to gather his thoughts and figure out how he was going to approach the upcoming situation.

"Most of the facilities power down including housing so you have to make do here. Couches are comfortable but there are cots in storage if you like. There's a rec. room down the hall that you kids might enjoy. Just don't plug in the video games okay...or anything that draws power," Jenner explained as he led them down rows of corridors. "That rule applies to everyone. You show, go easy on the hot water," Naomi's eyes lit up at the mention of hot water, something that they hadn't experienced in literally month, the word was so rare to hear and so she wondered whether or not he actually uttered it. But when she turned around to ask if what she heard was real, Jenner was gone.

"Hot water?" Glenn said dreamily and she grinned, it was actually real, she hadn't heard wrong.

"That's what the man said," T-Dog grinned.

Naomi could't wait any longer and opened the first door that she passed by, slipping inside. She was looking forward to a proper shower finally. The room was clean and even though there were only couches to sleep on, Naomi was glad that she could sleep in an actual room for the first time in months.  
Glenn groaned as all of the rooms quickly filled up. Rick told them all to stay in the same hall so that they were close to each other if anything bad were to happen. Lori, Carl and Rick were sharing, Naomi by herself, Carol with Sophia, T-Dog and Jacquie, Dale, Andrea...and then there was Daryl and Shane who no one dared to share a room with. Andrea wanted to be by herself and he was too scared to room with Naomi so it would have to be Dale. But when he rocked up at Dale's room, he turned him away.

"I'm an old man Glenn, I want at least one night of sleep by myself," Dale then smiled cheekily and added. "Why don't you share a room with Naomi, I'm sure she won't mind," And then he closed the door in his face.

Glenn sighed and walked tentatively over to the room that Naomi was staying in and then knocking on the door and hoping that she wasn't yet in the shower, feeling slightly relieved when she opened the door and smiled at him.

"Can I be your roomie tonight?" He asked, swaying slightly on his drunken feet.

She nodded and opened the door and let him in. "I'm having the first shower and you better share those," She said, motioning to the bottles clutched in his hands. He smiled with a nod and moved into the room quickly, sighing as he felt the air-conditioning grace his skin.

He dumped his bag on the floor, Naomi grabbed her pyjamas and launched herself into the bathroom and mumbling a goodbye. As soon as she closed the door, she promptly stripped out of her clothes, turning on the water and waiting for the water to physically warm up. She tried not to look at her dirty face in the mirror, she would do that after she hopefully stopped looking like she had just been living in a dumpster for the past three months.

Naomi squealed as the water hit her skin, warming her body and she watched the floor as the dirt streamed onto the floor and down the drain. Reaching for the shampoo, she lathered her hair and also soaped her body, scratching at her skin roughly until she hoped that her skin turned clean. She only stopped the stream of water from the shower when she was clean and her hair freshly washed. When the water shut off, the warmth that the alcohol and the water left her body and she felt was cold. All of her pain spread through her body again and as she stood at the mirror, raking her fingers through her hair. Tears leaked at her eyes even though she willed for them to just disappear.

God, she was just a whirlwind of emotions that Naomi had no idea how to work through. She had never felt this way before.

Everything was wrong. She wished that the wine that she had drunk made her forget all the sadness that she felt longer but unfortunately it made her do was feel worse about the whole situation. Naomi missed Amy. It was hard for her to do anything without wanting to run around and say something to her friend. It hadn't even been that long but she was already felt the burning sensation of not having a buddy to gossip with while doing laundry or even just in general. It's strange that when you have something it doesn't mean much but when it's taken away you miss it like nothing before. That was the same with Amy except for the fact that she wasn't coming back. Naomi also longed for the feeling of security in the large group that they had before the night of the fish fry. She felt so vulnerable standing with their depleted group out in a world that was no good.

Through the fogginess of her still slightly intoxicated brain Naomi realised and came to the conclusion that she would die the same way that the others did. She would get overpowered by on of those disgusting good for nothing freaks and a chunk would be taken out of her flesh. That would be the end of it.

It made sense why those workers committed suicide in the building instead of leaving. Who would want to venture out of comfort and into inevitable danger when they could control the way that they went out?  
It would have been painless in contrast to the endless pain that sears through her body after being bit. They would take their last breaths in pain even unless you were lucky and got put out of your misery before then. Naomi liked the idea of being able to control the way that she died. She could end it all and not have to think about the way that she would die in the future and not have to lose any more people.

Knock. Knock. Glenn was rapping at the door, his head pressed dreamily against it as he waited for Naomi to answer him.

She had been in there for quite a long time and he was beginning to become impatient as he really wanted to have a shower before he either passed out or vomited from the ingestion of a lot of alcohol in the past few hours. He heard her sniffling and she was rushing he could tell even through the door. It creaked open to reveal a sniffling Naomi. She kept her head down and moved past him but even in his state he knew that something wasn't right. With a concerned glance, Glenn grabbed at Naomi's arm and tugged her back to meet him so he could get a better look at her.  
Something definitely wasn't right. Naomi refused to meet his gaze as she didn't want him to see her upset. She was still affected by the alcohol and everything that she was feeling in that moment was amplified. The last thing that she wanted was to put him off as he seemed to be having a good time.

"What's wrong? What's up Naomi?" He asked as if he wasn't drunk out of his mind in that moment.

"I-I-I j-just...I want Amy. I want the quarry. I want everything to go back to normal," She blurted out, holding her heavy head up to look at Glenn. She was starting to feel tired again and ready to sleep.

Glenn sighed in remorse. He understood completely and realised that whatever she was feeling was being magnetised. It made him feel sad that she was feeling that way and he had no idea how to make her feel better about the situation. There was no happy ending for that situation. He knew that Naomi and Amy were friends and if he was feeling crappy about it then he couldn't imagine what she was experiencing. Or Andrea. She had lost everything in such a short space of time. Naomi was right, everyone wanted things to go back to normal. Glenn didn't embrace her like he usually would have, instead he led her over to one of the couches and motioned for her to sit down. He crouched down in front of her but that ended up becoming botched as he had to sit down, his balance being compromised in that moment.

"We're going to be alright. We can fight through and beat this thing," Glenn said, he was then looking around at the nice, clean air-conditioned room. "I mean look at where we are! There must be people working on how to stop this thing. Jenner can't be the only one. I bet you that this whole nightmare will be over before we know it and we can get back to our lives."

Naomi looked down at her hands, admiring the way that her nails were cleaned from her long shower, her mind was developing words to say to him. "Can you promise me something?" She asked.

He nodded almost eagerly. "Of course. What is it?"

"Can you promise me that if I get bit that you won't let me turn into one of those things? That I won't end up turning like Amy."

"You won't turn. I'm not letting you get bit in the first place."

Naomi rolled her eyes. "Oh please. No one can ever say that anymore. We have no idea how to live in this world. Will you just promise me? Please Glenn I don't want to turn like Amy and I don't want to be left like Jim. I want to go this way. Where I'm put out of my pain. Can you do that for me?"

Glenn sighed and nodded, rubbing at his eyes with his hands before answering her. "Yeah I promise I'll kill you if you get bit so that you don't turn."

She looked relieved and pointed towards the bathroom where she knew that he needed to go. He stunk just like she did. "Thank you. Now go and have your shower."

When Glenn returned from his shower with wet hair and an open mind, he let out a tiny sigh as he noticed that Naomi was fast asleep on the couch that he had put his possessions on. Instead of making a scene, Glenn just used the other couch, settling into it. Glenn didn't have any trouble falling asleep that night.

 _Author's Note:  
_ _Hey guys! New chapter! One chapter to go until I finally finish season one. I changed this chapter up a bit from last time as I hated the way that I made Glenn and Naomi get together this early on. I think back on it now and realise how bad that was!  
_ _I also wanted show the conflicting that Naomi was feeling about her odds of survival after her confronting experience with the death of Amy. I hope that I captured that alright...I'm not sure._

 _Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. Thank you to all who reviewed, favourited/followed my story! All of your support is greatly appreciated!_

 _Thank you all for reading and have a great day!_


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

Hangovers sucked. That was something that Naomi Grimes found out on the day of her twenty-first birthday.

She was sat in the large dining area with her head in her arms, mirroring exactly her best friend Glenn's positioning. Except maybe for the fact that she wasn't groaning about the sensitivity of her ears as he was. Naomi wasn't even sure how she managed to get out of the couch that was so very comfortable against her skin. She didn't even think that she had drunk that much. It wasn't the first time that Naomi had had a drink but she had never felt that way the next day. T-Dog didn't look affected at all by the night before and was chirpier than ever as he cooked breakfast. He was making it clear that he was having a great time messing with the rest of the group members. Especially talking loudest apparently, that was one of his strong suits to try and annoy the rest of the people. And boy was he going to town with it.

"Eggs!" T-Dog exclaimed, slopping said eggs onto Glenn's plate as he yelled annoyingly into his friends' ears. "Powdered But I make 'em good," He said, leaning over to put some on Naomi's plate.

She couldn't help but groan as the smell hit her nose. It made her eyes water and stomach clench. Naomi had never been that strong of eater of eggs and the smell was just making her un-appetised even though she knew that eating would probably make her feel better.

"I hate you," Glenn moaned at the same time as Naomi tried to be polite and thank him.

Lori, Carl, Dale, Andrea, Glenn, Naomi, T-Dog, Jacquie, Carol and Sophia were all up at the table eating the first breakfast they had that they actually mildly enjoyed. Rick stumbled in, clutching at his head as he sat down at the table, scratching his growing tassels of curly brown hair before looking up at the group, at Carl whose attention was on his mother's inquisitively and then at Naomi who was pale and looking down at her eggs with a glare as she rubbed her temples to drown the throbbing in her head. He couldn't help but grin, what a great twenty-first birthday, he thought to himself. What a way to celebrate it. He wondered whether or not she was going to say anything about her ageing up to the rest of the group so in that moment he remained quiet. He kew that Naomi wasn't the type of person who wanted to have attention on her when it wasn't needed.

"Are you hungover?" That was the first question that came out of Carl's mouth as he looked over at his father expectantly. "Mum said you'd be."

"Mum is right," Rick revealed trying not to smirk down at his son.

"Mum had that annoying habit," Lori mumbled as she looked over at Naomi with a small smug smile on her face. Mother knows best, she thought idly to herself.

As T-Dog served Rick his helping of eggs, he asked Lori where everything came from while indicating for her to help open the child lock off the Tylenol.

"Jenner thought we could use it...some of us at least."

"Don't ever, ever, ever let me drink again," Glenn moaned, feeling the full brunt of his liquor filled night and the pressure of being in the same room as everyone else when they were looking fine...well, all except for Naomi of course. She was in the same position as him in that moment. All that he was worried about was having to deal with one of the worst hangovers that he had ever had.

"Hey," Shane greeted as he walked into the room. They were still waiting on Dixon to enter but knowing him, he wouldn't be in there until everyone else left. Naomi looked up to greet him back but stopped when she saw some angry red scratch marks on his neck. Her eyes lit up in confusion but she didn't say anything to them.

"Hey. You feel as bad as I do?" Rick asked, somewhat perked up from the cup of coffee that he had just impressively sullied. Naomi had never seen anything like it from her father.

Shane paused to reflect on the night before with a dark expression on his face as he stared on at Lori. "Worse."

Shane caught eyes of T-Dog who curiously asked about the two large angry scratch marks on the side of his neck. "Must've done it in my sleep," Was all that he said.

"I've never seen you do anything like that at the station before," Rick said curiously.

"Me neither. It's not something that I usually do," He agreed and even in her hungover state Naomi could see the exchange between Lori and Shane and felt even more turned off of her food than previously.

"Morning," Jenner greeted as he casually strolled into the room breaking the tense and awkward atmosphere that radiated unhealthily around the group. A chorus of greeting came from everyone, most just wanting to get out of the tense situations and others not realising that they started it.

"Doctor I don't mean to slam you with questions first thing in the morning -"

Jenner rolled his eyes. "But you will anyway."

"We didn't come here for the eggs," Andrea's independent voice rang out. Jenner sighed and put down his coffee, turning to face them.

In the main communication room that Jenner led them in to, Jenner didn't say a word to them as he turned his back to them to converse with his computer. "Give me playback of TS-19," Jenner ordered Vi as the others attention shifted to the large screen in enchantment. "Few people ever got a chance to view this. Very few," The screen showed the top x-ray of half a human, their head and shoulder and then layering it from bone structure, blood system and then just a brain.

Carl was looking on in astonishment. "Is that a brain?"

Jenner smiled slightly as he looked down at Naomi's innocent brother. He and his wife had always wanted to start a family but work had always gotten in the way. "And extraordinary one. Not that it matters in the end...take us for an EIV."

"Enhanced Internal View," Vi sounded from the loud speakers. They body spun around, moving closer and closer into the brain until all that they could see was thousands of scattered lights floating around the screen. It was kind of beautiful in a depressing way.

"What are all those lights?" Shane as, just as mystified as the rest of them were.

"It's a persons life. Experiences, memories. It's everything somewhere in all that organic wiring all those ripples of light, is you. The things that make you unique and human."

"You don't make sense...ever?" Daryl asked making Naomi smirk slightly and lean back on a desk, getting ready for a lecture. That was the one thing that she didn't miss about her old life was the college component. Naomi knew that pretty much anything that he would say in that room she wouldn't understand, especially because she was extremely hungover.

"Those synapses. Electric impulses in the brain that carry all the messages. They determine everything a person says, does or thinks from the moment of birth to the moment of death."

"Death?" Rick asked, walking forward, his eyes still attached to the screen. "That's what this is, a vigil?"

"Yeah...or, or rather the playback of the vigil."

"This person died. Who?" Andrea asked, she too, creeping forward a bit, Naomi was lost in the swirling lights, words that had just been said floating around but didn't quite process in her mind. All she could hear was blinding hot ringing.

"Test subject nineteen. Someone who was bitten and infected and volunteered to have us record the process...Vi, scan forward to the first event."

The virtual camera then started to show the beautiful blue streaks of light get taken down by black lights that ran through like tree branches. Naomi guessed that that was death taking its course on the body. That was not something that they should be showing Carl and Sophia. They wouldn't even show something like that in a high school science class. Well, her morning just became even more depressing than it started out to be.

"What is that?"

It invades the brain like meningitis. The adrenal glands haemorrhage, the brain goes into shut down and the major organs...then death. Everything you ever were or will be...gone."

"Is that what happened to Jim?" Sophia's mousy voice asked her mother as everyone began to think back to the night that camp fell and heaps of people died and went though the same process as the test subject had. Just a friendly scientific reminder that no one was safe from the walkers.

"Yes."

"Scan to the second event," Jenner told Vi after comforting a crying Andrea weakly. She was obviously thinking about her sister as she saw what had happened internally to her sister. "The resurrection time vary wildly. We have reports of it happening in as little as three minutes. The longest we heard of was eight hours and the case of this patient was two hours, one minute, seven seconds."

Naomi looked at the board horrified when she saw bits of red speckle through the pitch black brain. "It restarts the brain?"

Jenner shook his head. "No. Just the brain stem. Basically it gets them up and moving."

"But they're not alive."

"You tell me," Jenner challenged, indicating to the screen.

Naomi bit her lip as she pointed to the screen, feeling like she was being tested back in school. "It's nothing like before. Most of the brain is dark."

"Dark. Lifeless. Dead. The frontal lobes, the human part. That doesn't come back. The you part. Just a shell driven by mindless instinct," As the body began to move, going into walker mode and then suddenly a flash of light and a bullet had torn through the skull, ending the suffering of whoever the person was.

Carol gasped, terrified. "God, what was that?: She asked, the hand around her daughter tightening instinctively.

"He shot his patient in the head. Didn't you?" Andrea threw back bluntly.

Instead of answering what most already knew, Jenner started ordering Vi around again. "Turn off the screen and the workstations."

"Powering down main screen and work stations." Vi repeated completing the actions that it was told to do effortlessly until there were hardly any lights on in the room. There was only that stupid clock that seemed to be counting down from the last time she looked at it. If she was to be stood corrected, but actual clocks counted up, not down so it must be for something else. But what was it counting down to? What else was going to happen?

"You have no idea what it is do you?" Andrea remarked, drawing Naomi's attention back to Jenner who was looking down at the ground as if thinking of what to say.

"It could be mircobial, viral. prophetic, fungal -"

"Or the wrath of God?" Dale asked.

"There's that."

"Somebody must know something. Somebody somewhere. There are other right? Other facilities?"

"There may be some people like me."

"You don't know. How can you not know?" Rick asked with wide eyes. He was looking between his family and Jenner with his hands on his hips.

"They're wiped out. Communications, transmissions. I've been in the dark for almost a month."

"So it's not just here. There's nothing left anywhere? Nothing. That's what you're really saying right?" When Naomi received no answer, she gasped and blinked furiously to try and keep her disappointment at bay. "Oh Jesus Christ."

"Oh man I'm going to get shiftfaced drunk...again," Daryl complained as he sulked off, scrubbing at his face with his calloused hands. It seemed that everyone was looking on in disbelief.

"Doctor Jenner. I know this has been taxing for you and I hate to ask you one more question. But that clock...it's counting down. What happens at zero?" Dale asked, voicing the question that Naomi was just previously thinking to herself. Well at least she wasn't the only one thinking about what might happen when the clock stopped counting.

Jenner shrugged. "The basement generators, they run out of fuel," He said simply but it was obvious that he was hiding something.

Naomi, annoyed, turned to Shane. The one who wanted all of the answers in the first place, who was just standing there and crossed her arms in front of her chest with a stern look on her face. The action reminded him of the exact same thing that Lori did all the time. Like mother, like daughter he supposed.

"You wanted answers and now you've got 'em," She said before spinning on her heel and making her way back to her room. She was finished sitting around and listening to depressing news that told her basically nothing about how the new world was like. She was sick of hearing Jenner lie.

Glenn had joined her a few minutes later. Puffing and claiming that they had gone done to investigate the basement and found that an emergency generator had been turned on and that there were gallons of empty fuel containers that were once full and running the building. Naomi, who had calmed down considerably since Jenner's life and death explanation, was worried by the fact that the air conditioning had just stopped a few minutes prior. Before either could say or do anything, the lights turned out, leaving them in darkness. Grabbing a hold of Naomi's hand, he instinctively pulled her towards the door, the two slipping out of the room and looking at Jenner inquisitively as the others began to ask questions.

"Energy is being prioritised," Was all that Jenner had to offer.

Dale scrunched up his nose at the lack of answers and followed after him, the others doing the same. "Air isn't a priority? And light?"

"It's not up to me," He said, swigging from a bottle. "Zone Five is shutting itself down," He sipped again on the bottle.

"Hey. What the hell does that mean?" Daryl asked, following after him and trying to get some answers for everyone. "Hey man I'm talking to you. What do you mean it's shutting itself down? How can a building do anything?"

"You'd be surprised," Jenner said with a scoff.

"Jenner. What's happening?" Rick asked, approaching the man. He wasn't quite sure what was going to happen but he knew that it wasn't going to end well.

"The system is dropping all the non-essential uses of power. It's designed to keep the computer running until the last possible second. We just approached the half hour mark. Right on schedule," He took another swig before handing it to Daryl who angrily took it from his grasp. "It was the French."

"What?" Andrea asked, moving forward, her arms crossed over her chest.

"They were the last ones to hold out as far as I know. While people were bolting out the doors or committing suicide in the hallway, they stayed in the labs until the end. They thought they were close to a solution."

"What happened to them?"

Jenner shrugged. "Same thing that happened here. The power gird...ran out of juice. The world runs on fossil fuel I mean how stupid is that?"

"Let me tell you something -"

"The hell with this Shane, I don't even care. Lori grab out things, everyone we're getting out of here now!" Rick yelled and as everyone began to move to grab their things, a long, high pitched beeping stopped everyone from going any further and the main screen broadcasted a timer counting down from thirty minutes. Everyone began to panic and Shane urged them on, yelling to grab their stuff so they could get the hell out of there and away from the crazy scientist who seemed unnervingly calmed by their panic.

Running, the group was once again stopped, this time by Jenner who had intentionally closed the door.

Glenn's terrified dark eyes widened, it was becoming evident that everyone locked in the room was losing their shit. "Did he just lock us in? He just locked us in!"

Shit began to hit the fan as Daryl tried to take Jenner down, only to be stopped by T-Dog and Shane who knew that the only way that they were going to get our would be through him. Jenner was the key.

"Jenner you open that door right now!" Rick hissed in a low voice, Naomi had never heard a sound that threatening before in her life from her father. He had never sounded that desperate either.

"There's no point. Everything topside is locked down, the emergency exits are sealed."

"Well open the damn thing."

The scientist shook his head. "That's not something I can control. The computers do. I told you. Once that front door closed it wouldn't open again you heard me say that. It's better this way -"

"What is? What happens in twenty-eight minutes?"

Receiving no answer, a furious Shane aggregately kicked a chair close Jenner and it went flying on its wheels. "What happens?"

"Do you know what this place is?" Jenner exploded, throwing his hands out. "We protected the public from very nasty stuff. Weaponised smallpox. Ebola strains that could wipe out half the country. Stuff that you don't want getting out. Ever!" Jenner took a minute to calm down before sitting down at his desk chair before starting again in a much calmer tone. "In an event of a catastrophic power failure, a terrorist attack for example. HIT's are deployed to prevent any organisms from getting out."

Rick stepped forward now slightly confused but still angry and scared. "HIT's?"

Jenner sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and looking up at the ceilings. "Vi define."

"HIT's: High Impulse Thermo fuel air explosives, that consist of a two stage aerosol that produces a blast wave of significantly greater power and duration than any other explosive except nuclear. The pressure affects the oxygen between five thousand and six thousand degrees useful where the greatest laws of life and extra structures don't apply."

"It sets the air on fire," Naomi sobbed into her father's shoulder, her arms around her mother's skinny torso and her brother's nimble shoulders. She did not want to die because some crazy scientist has locked them all in to burn when the building explodes. That was not his decision to make. She would rather try before giving up.

"Help me. An end to pain, regret...everything," Jenner whispered.

All hell was really breaking loose. Daryl was throwing the bottle at the closed door which did nothing but make the floor slippery and sticky. Shane and Daryl trying to open the doors with identical axes that did not make a dent in the metal. Naomi had tears creating trails down her cheeks. Lori was hugging Carl to her chest as Rick and Dale tried to convince Jenner to open the doors and let them back out so they could continue on with their lives and try to live in the new world. That they deserved to have a chance. That it wasn't his choice.

"Hey...Naomi," Glenn said gently while touching her shoulder. He too, had tears in his eyes. They just couldn't seem to catch a break. And she turned around, seeking his embrace where she started to sob. With the way that things were looking they weren't going to get out of there. There was so much that she wanted to do and learn and it was getting cut short by the crazy and selfish scientist. The feeling of hopelessness was starting to seep into her mind which made her cry harder.

Glenn pulled her closer. "Hey, hey," He whispered into her ear trying to make her feel better even though he wasn't feeling too good about the situation himself.

"We're going to die in here...he's not going to let us out," She sobbed.

"Shh, shh," He hushed her, running her back as he led her towards the chair. "We're gonna get out of here. I promise you," He said and once she was sitting down he stormed off over to Daryl and T-Dog even more determined to get out of there alive.

Carl ran over to Naomi, sitting in her lap while their parents debated with Jenner to get him to open the doors. The time was beginning to slip away, along with Naomi's patience and was beginning to believe that they weren't going to make it out alive. While she was trying to distract Carl, her parents must of done something to change the scientists mind because he opened the doors. They made a detour to grab their bags before trying to open the last strong glass windows and doors they knew that it would be a challenge to open with a few minutes on the clock before the building blew up. So far, Jacquie, Andrea and Dale were still staying in the building.  
Surprisingly, Carol pulled out a grenade and Naomi had no idea where she got it from but it was really helping nonetheless. The window smashed into a million pieces and they wasted no time in climbing out over broken glass and running to the cars. Just before they were about to drive away and leave the horrible area, Andrea and Dale climbed out of the window, halting their movements. Glenn, knowing that they had run out of time, he gently and quickly pushed his best friend Naomi to the floor of the RV to shield themselves from the blast that was inevitably going to come.

"We made it," Naomi breathed, as he stood up to look at the fireball that was once the CDC.

Glenn smiled in relief and grabbed her hand. "Yeah...we did."

 _Authors Note:  
Hey guys! This is officially the last chapter of season one! I hope you like this chapter. _

_Thank you for reviewing, favouriting/following. All of you support keeps me working to rewrite a story better than last one.  
Thank you for reading and have a great day!_


	12. Chapter 12 - Season Two

Chapter Twelve

Season Two

Flashback = _Italics_

 _A tired sigh escaped Naomi Grimes' mouth as she stared at the long line of practically unmoving traffic. Never in her years of driving had she been in a traffic jam that bad. It usually wasn't this bad to get home but she knew and understood why there was such a struggle. Naomi wasn't dumb, she knew that people were trying to escape the heat and pollution of the city for the long weekend. She was doing the exact same thing. The crowd added_ _together with the burning heat was enough for anyone to lose patience and that was what was exactly happening with Naomi. All that she wanted to do was go back to her hometown and visit her family and even that was proving to be a difficult task._

 _Shuffling up in her seat to try to see if there was any movements in the jam Naomi quickly came to the realisation that she wouldn't be moving at a steady pace for quite a while. She began to fish around in her handbag to find her phone, painted fingernails grasping around on silky fabric until she finally found it. Naomi squinted due to the harsh morning sun to find the contact on the screen that she wished to call and tapped the green phone button, listening patiently to the dial tone. Another sigh left her lips, she really needed to invest in another pair of sunglasses. Preferably a better one._

 _Her mother, Lori Grimes, picked up the phone a couple of seconds later and her voice ran through the air. "Naomi? You better be on the road soon if you want to make it home at a reasonable time. I thought that you were going to head out over an hour ago."_

 _"I did," Naomi stated simply, slipping the phone onto her connector so that she could rest both hands on the steering wheel._

 _Her mum spluttered from the other line in surprise as she caught on. "You - you...Naomi Grimes please do not tell me that you are distracted on your phone while driving! Do you understand how dangerous and reckless that is? Did your father not show you all of the car accident statistics for being on your mobile when -"_

 _"Mum," She cut in with a slight laugh. "Calm down. I'm stuck in a traffic jam at the moment. The car is not currently in drive."  
_

 _"Oh," Lori sighed in relief but there was still the tight, disapproving tone in her voice that had yet to disappear. "Well that's alright I guess."_

 _Much to Naomi's luck, the traffic then started to ease up and she could finally move into the drive again. Excitement at the prospect of soon getting to see her family bubbled up and Naomi smiled, staring at the cars slowly moving on._

 _"Traffic's easing now so -" Naomi started to explain but was cut off by the beeping that signified Lori hanging up the phone to let her daughter drive without any distractions. "Okay then," She sighed, right hand reaching out to pull her mobile out of the bluetooth and onto the passenger seat. That was just like her mother to do that Naomi thought and then focused on the road to begin her travels again like the cars around her._

* * *

A traffic jam. A traffic jam in which everyone in the cars are either dead or turned. How convenient. The group had conducted a full day of travelling to get to Fort Benning only to end up at yet another dead end. That really seemed to boost everyone's mood; it surely had boosted Naomi's confidence that her group had the worst luck ever. They just seriously could ever get a break.

Swamped in a sea of cars, the RV and its passengers looked on hopefully as Daryl on the motorbike weaved in between the cars to try and find a way through. He circled back soon after leaving and shook his head in response. They wouldn't be able to get through; at least not without some serious struggle. That was going to be even harder seeing as the RV was in dire need of a new undamaged radiator hose, whatever the hell that was and had not been running smoothly. If they hadn't go caught in a traffic jam, the RV would have surely broken down. Probably in the middle of nowhere without any spare parts that could be used. Whereas they were were stuck in piles of cars with parts and supplies that they could use. Realisation struck Naomi and she was out of her seat and moving out of the RV just as Dale had turned the vehicle off.  
The others had joined each of them confused about her enthusiasm. They all looked around at the ghost area. A place that once held living, breathing people now only held the empty shells and possessions.

"Think about it," Naomi found herself saying as she looked around at the junkyard. "The RV needs parts and we are standing next to so many cars. Dale can spend the time fixing the RV so we won't break down in the middle of nowhere and we can move the cars out of the way; clear us a path. We get supplies as well."

Rick beamed at his daughter's logic. She had grown up so much in such a short space of time. He had no doubt that she could learn and adapt so much more.

Shane nodded, rubbing at the back of his head. "She does have a point," He said.

Naomi nodded appreciatively at him for taking her side. He gave her a small grin. It was an improvement from the glares she was casting his way just like her mother. Hopefully it was a step in the right direction. The rest of the group hummed in agreement. Lori scoffed with a frown and looked around at what was lost. People had once belonged to what they wanted to take and it wasn't right.

"This is a graveyard," Lori snapped back with her hands on hips, the group silenced to look at her. "I don't know how I feel about this."

Daryl snorted and lifted the hood on one of the cars, rifling through the stuff crammed into the small space. "We need the stuff," He said, casting a glance to Naomi as if to tell her that he agreed with what she said. She smiled slightly at the response and turned to search through some of the vehicles, Glenn trailing behind her, following as the crowds dispersed to follow her lead.

Glenn and Naomi barely spoke a word to each other as they filled up a box in one of the cars with essentials. Their spirits lifted as Dale started to look around for engine parts that they needed and Andrea and T-Dog started to move cars into ditches and off of the road. Her plan was starting to come together and Naomi was feeling elated. She continued to fill the box until it was too heavy as Glenn went to help Dale fix the RV. Naomi shifted the box into her arms with a groan and began to shuffle back to the RV. She had been doing a good job remaining focused until she got to the RV and Glenn almost scared the hell out of her. He had snuck up behind her and only had to put a hand on her shoulder to make her freak out. It was amusing to him and Dale but certainly not her and her feet knocked against a few protein bars that had toppled out from the shock.

Naomi motioned at them with her head to Glenn. "That's your fault so you can pick them up," Glenn sighed at the order but bent down and grabbed them anyway, plopping them back into the box into the box that she set down, shaking out her tensing arms.

A grin made way onto Glenn's features as he noticed that Naomi's eyes were shielded by the sunglasses that he had brought back for her from his run. She had made it pretty obvious that she loved them, always wearing and commenting about them. It still made Glenn proud because he was the one who snagged for her. He was the one who looked and found them in the department store and kept them safe and covered with soft items in his bag. He had done that for her.

"Do you know that Shane found so much water in a truck. Over there. Seems as if your plan is working out," Glenn said and watched as a smile that spread over her face. One that was much bigger and better than previously.

"Oh my god. Seriously? Where?" She asked, looking around to try and find the said water truck.

She then looked to him questioningly for help and directions to which he looked to Dale whom he was helping to fix the RV. Dale, who had been shamelessly watching the two communicate, ushered Glenn away with a flourish of his arms. Glenn led the way to the truck, which was conveniently only a few cars away so they didn't have to walk far. Naomi gasped at the sight of the gallons of water, hands over her mouth because she was just that shocked at the sight.

"No way!" She exclaimed, shoving his shoulder lightly in excitement.

Before Glenn could reply, Rick called out to the two of them frantically though his voice was hushed. "Naomi, Glenn, get under the cars. Under the cars."

Sensing the urgency in her father's voice, Naomi didn't pause to question him and she dropped to the ground instantly and crawled under the water truck, Glenn sliding next to her only a few seconds later. He looked just as confused as her and both knew that whatever must be going on has to be dangerous. Naomi tried to not hiss at the heat of the bitumen under her arms and legs. She shifted uncomfortably. And then they figured out why they were under the cars. Dead feet slowly shuffled past them. Body after body moved on. There were so many of them; way more than Naomi had ever seen, even more than when they were attacked at the quarry. Naomi stopped herself at looking at the feet of the walkers, her attention refocused onto Glenn and slowly he did the same so that they were both looking at each other. Sensing her fright, Glenn tentatively reached his hand out and winded it with hers. The two fed off each others comfort for the strength to remain calm. For what was actually probably minutes felt like hours as the two laid there until the footsteps decreased until they finally stopped all together. Glenn and Naomi waited together for a few more seconds in caution before he nudged her and they both crawled out. She looked around with wide eyes, looking for walkers, sweaty palms on her jeans to brush herself down. Her mind was trying to come to terms with what had just happened.

Naomi focused on her mother who was holding a sobbing Carol back near the guardrails separating the roads from the forest. Her eyes narrowed, something bad must have happened. Carl was standing close by their mother and Rick was nowhere to be found. Naomi rushed forward next to Carol, Lori and Carl. Her vision cast into the forest and she just knew that that was where Rick was.

"What happened?" She breathed, turning to her mother who clearly heard her yet chose to remain quiet. "What happened?" What's going on?" She demanded, growing impatient.

Carl pulled back from Lori and swiped at her eyes with the back of her hand before turning to Naomi to answer the question. She looked absolutely terrified. "Sophia's out there with those monsters. My baby's out there! Oh, she's out there!"

Lori pet the mother's back and sent a hard look to Naomi. "Rick's gone to get her. She's gonna be alright. You hear me Carol? She's gonna be alright."

Turning away from the scene in front of her, Naomi willed the tears gathering in her eyes away. She had to do something to help. Anything. And if her father was out there then she would help as much as she could anywhere. T-Dog was rested by Daryl next to the RV, Dale next to them in an instant to help. A huge slice was taken out of his forearm and blood was spurting out from it. That looked incredibly painful.  
With the sun setting and Rick and Sophia not yet back, Naomi spent the time helping Dale stabilise T-Dog's arm. Luckily whatever he cut it on didn't go super deep and hit an artery, and they managed to slow the bleeding and cover the wound with their limited medical supplies. They would have to find more in the cars.

It was late afternoon when Rick stumbled back up to camp without Sophia. He was panting and sweating heavily. "Where's Sophia?" Was the first thing that left his lips as he rubbed at his head and looked at the group that just stared back at him solemnly.

Carol's breath caught in her throat as she heard those words. "You didn't find her?" She cried, rushing forward, squirming out of Lori's grasp.

Rick started shaking his head back and forth as realisation hit him and she didn't return back to the highway as he had anticipated. "I told her to come back here if I didn't come back - told her to keep the sun to her left."

"She's not here," Shane muttered under his breath, feeling disheartened at the news. "Okay everyone, me, Rick - Daryl, you know how to track don't you?" Receiving a tense nod from the hunter Shane carried on. "You're coming with us, we need your tracking...Glenn, you wanna come too?" Glenn nodded and reached over to grab his baseball bat.

He was about to go and follow when a hand clasped around his arm and gently pulled him back. Sunglasses pushed up to uncover her brown eyes, Naomi looked up at Glenn nodded nervously. "Be careful yeah?" Was all that she said but it meant a lot to him.

"I will," He promised and Naomi pulled back with a nod before turning and making her way over to Dale as Glenn joined the other to continue looking for Sophia.

* * *

Not long after Glenn left, he came back with Shane. The two delivered he positive news that Daryl had found Sophia's footprints and that he and Rick would find her and bring her back. Despite hearing the positive words, they were all still nervous as to what the outcomes would be. After all, they did manage to have the worst luck ever. Tasks were given in order to keep them occupied. But while Andrea, Naomi, Glenn and Shane started to clear the roads of the cars, Dale looking after T-Dog and the RV and Lori trying to keep Carl occupied with homework, Carol stood at the edge of the road just waiting for her daughters hopefully safe return.

"Why aren't we all out there looking?" Carol stoically asked Dale. "Why are we moving cars?"

"We have to have enough room so I can get the RV turned around as soon as it's running. Now that we have fuel we can double back to a bypass Glenn flagged on the map."

"Provided that we can try to get through this mess," Shane put in, sweat was running down his face as well as everyone else's face. It seemed that even though the sun was beginning to disappear, it wasn't taking the heat with it. It was still sweltering.

"We're not going anywhere until my daughter's back," Carol stated defensively. She did not want to return back to the timid person that he husband made her become and she wanted to be strong. She had to show that she was strong.

Lori tried to calm the other lady down. "Hey that goes without saying yeah."

Shane nodded. "Look Rick and Daryl are on it okay? It's just a matter of time."

"Can't be soon enough for me," Naomi said, wanting everything back in order so that they could move on while tossing a warm bottle of water to Glenn, opening her own and chugging some of the contents. "I'm still freaked out by the heard that passed us by, or whatever you call it," She shrugged.

"Yeah what was that?" Glenn asked, slightly intrigued. "All of them just marching along like that."

Shane smirked. "Herd. That sounds about right. Hell, we've seen it, that night camp got attacked just a wandering pack. Okay, c'mon people, we've still got a lot to do, stay on it. Let's go."

It had been a few agonising hours until the mid-afternoon floated into nighttime when Rick and Daryl returned with no sign of Sophia anywhere near them. Naomi's heart dropped in her chest. It seemed as if they couldn't catch a break. She just hoped that wherever the little girl was, she was some place safe away from harm of walkers for the night and not hurt. Sophia was younger than Carl and Naomi just couldn't imagine what she would do and how much it would hurt if Carl was in her position. Naomi wasn't strong enough to even think of that prospect. After all, Sophia was still just a child. Just an innocent child.

It was then when Carol turned hysterical. No one would ever even begin to understand what she was feeling in that moment. "You- you didn't find her?" She cried, one of her dirty hands clutched at her heart as if that was the only support holding it together.

"Her trail went cold. We'll pick it up again at first light," Rick said tiredly as he slipped over the guardrail. All of the emotions and guilt that he carried were all starting to catch up to him and Rick just wanted to sleep. It seemed as if nothing he was doing was helping the situation and he was so lost; he had no idea what to do.

"You can't leave her out there, to spend the night alone in the woods," Carol started, clearly on the edge of hysterics.

"The dark's no good, we'd just be tripping over ourselves," Daryl interrupted softly from the sidelines. "More people get lost."

"But you can't. She's just twelve. She can't be out there on her own. You didn't find anything?"

"I know this is hard but I'm asking you not to panic. We know she's out there," Rick said, trying to calm down the hyperventilating woman but his attempts proved futile.

"We tracked her for a while," Daryl supplied.

"We have to make this an organised effort. Daryl knows the woods better than anyone. I've asked him to oversee this."

As instructed, Carol took two heaving breaths in an effort to calm herself down and rationalise; and then her weary eyes travelled down to Daryl's bloody knees. She began to struggle breathing again. Blood never led to anything good and her Sophia was out there. The last thing she wanted was people lying to her in an effort to save her feelings. "Is, is that blood?"

Rick sighed and looked down at his feet. "We took down a walker," He admitted.

"Walker," Carol breathed. That was the last thing that she needed. "Oh God."

"There was no sign it was ever anywhere near Sophia," He said to the scared woman.

Andrea looked at the father of two skeptically. "How do you know that?" She knew better than anyone what it was like to lose a loved one, she knew grief and how much it sucked. If Rick was just saying that in order to calm Carol down then Andrea knew that the lady deserved to know the truth. No matter how hard it may be to bear it. She hated false hope. There was no point in dragging the pain and worry out any more than it needed to be.

Silence stretched over the group as they looked expectantly over at the two men before Daryl reluctantly spoke up. "Cut the son of a bitch open. Made sure."

Panting, Carol took a staggered step back to lean against the guardrail, Lori instantly plopping down next to her to provide a source of much needed comfort and stability while rubbing her back. "How could you just leave her out there to begin with? How could you just leave her?"

That response shocked Naomi but in a way she could understand where it was coming from. That was her daughter out there lost and alone. The mother/daughter bond was hard to break and the absence must have been killing Carol. She was just looking to attach onto anything to point the finger at so that she could make sense of what was happening. It was understandable but not fair to be lashing out at Rick who had done nothing but help even when he didn't have to. Sophia wasn't his responsibility but he made her one.

"Those two walkers were on us. I-I had to draw 'em off, that's her best chance."

"Sounds like he didn't have a choice Carol," Shane said, backing the man up.

Carol started to weep, sobbing into her long sleeved cardigan mercilessly. "How's she supposed to find her way back on her own. She's just a child. She's just a child."

"It was my only option. The only choice I could make."

"Nobody doubts that," Lori nods to her husband.

Carol could only shake her head, tears streaming down her face. "My little girl...left in the woods." She sobbed and Rick sighed, not knowing what to do, what he could say to make it better. He rose from his crouched position and walked away from the scene to have a moment alone.

Naomi looked on at the pain and chaos while trying her absolute hardest not to cry. She couldn't help but feel that the whole thing was her fault.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

 _"_ Everybody takes a weapon," Rick told the group seriously the next morning.

They were all ready to go on a hunt for Sophia. Naomi was ready to do this. To fix what she had done wrong. To make things right. She stood beside Glenn clad in jeans and a flowy t-shirt and her new sunglasses shielding her eyes from the sun. She was fidgety and restless, just wanting to go as soon as possible and she hand't slept a wink. Her focus was on the road from a curled up position that she had moulded to in the passenger seat of the RV. Naomi's mind just didn't seen to want to shut up so she had plenty of time to think. Not that it was a particularly good thing to be doing. The only thing that Naomi wanted was the little girl to be safe for everyone's sake. It seemed as if everyone was on edge in that moment, because as soon as Andrea set eyes on the small knives and pick axes, she thought about the stash of guns that were in Dale's RV. It would be safer and easier using those in her mind.

"These aren't the type of weapons we need," Andrea argued dryly as she thought about her gun in Dale's possession. It was the last thing her father had given her and she wanted to be close to that. "What about guns?"

Shane sighed, scratching the back of his curly locks of brown hair. "We've been over that. Daryl, Rick and I are carrying. We can't have people popping off rounds every time a tree rustles."

"It isn't the trees I'm worried about."

In an effort to conceal how awkward Naomi felt at the comments, she stepped forward to where the weapons lay. Leaning forward, her eyes scanned over the weapons trying to find one that best suited her. Her hands clasped around what Naomi named a machete, at least that's what she thought it was. The weapon was light enough, handle thin in her grasp, it was cold and new to her touch. When she looked up from her hands, she was greeted by a smiling Glenn who was somewhat pleased with her choice. She eyed him curiously but he didn't answer her wordless question, instead returned to listening in on the weapons talk.

"Say somebody fires at the wrong time and moment, a herd happens to be passing by. See, that's why game over for all of us. So you need to get over it," Shane told Andrea, his tone and words leaving no room for argument, to which the blonde scoffed and shook her head. But Andrea didn't speak another word to Shane.

In the time that it took for the rest of the search group to get ready, Naomi elbowed Glenn in the stomach with a cheeky, mischievous smile planted on her lips. The two distracted themselves while waiting on the others, Glenn commented about how she reminded him of one of his favourite video game characters with her knife and then continued to basically explain the whole plot of the game to her. Naomi couldn't help but feel all bubbly and light at how excited he got about the simplest of things. Somehow he always managed to make her calmer without him even having to do much, even when she was wracked with nerves about the wellbeing of Sophia and running on fumes.

"Okay...everyone got the plan?" Rick asked, drawing the conversation between Glenn and his daughter to a close. He sent the Korean a questioning glance as if to ask whether or not he was even listening.

Glenn blanched and began to stutter, his cheeks turning red with a blush that crept up his neck like a pest as he looked between Rick and Naomi who both held the same unmistakeable smirk."Yeah...uh...t-the creek. Got it. Totally."

Rick nodded at the response, thoroughly amused with the situation and enjoyed seeing Glenn squirm at being caught flirting with Naomi. "Okay. Lets get some food, water. We're gonna be out here all day looking, don't want nobody coming back with heatstroke. Five minutes until we head on out."

It didn't take them very long to double check their supplies and soon they were only waiting on Andrea. It seemed as if she had moved on from Shane to pick up a fuss with Dale. The very Dale that has made her leave the CDC when she didn't want to and had taken away the gun that was hers to keep her safe apparently. They all looked on at the scene awkwardly, wanting to leave as soon as possible but not wanting to interrupt Andrea.

"Jenner gave us an option. I chose to stay."

Naomi remembered back to the time that seemed like years ago but was only a couple of days. She didn't think that she could ever forget that look on Andrea's face. So broken. So lost. Simply hopeless.

"You chose suicide!"

"So what's it to you? You barely know me!"

"I know Amy's death devastated you-"

She tensed at the name of her sister and became protective. "Keep her out of this. This is not about Amy. This is about us. And if I decided I had nothing left to live for who the hell are you to tell me otherwise - to force my hand like that."

"I saved you life."

"No Dale, I saved yours. You forced that on me. I didn't want your blood on my hands and that is the only reason I left that building. What did you expect, what, I had some kind of epiphany, some life confirming catharsis?"

"I...maybe just a little gratitude," The older man spoke, his eyes becoming watery with emotion.

"Gratitude?" Andrea spat at him, an incredulous expression on her face. "I wanted to die my way, not torn apart by drooling freaks. That was my choice. You took that from away from me Dale. But you know better...all I wanted after my sisters death was to get out of this endless, horrific nightmare we live in everyday. I wasn't hurting anyone else. You took my choice away Dale and you expect...gratitude?"

Naomi hung her head in shame at the situation that she had no control over. She tried her hardest not to think back to the times that living seemed like such a hassle. After he dad got shot and was put into a medically induced coma. When the world ended and was replaced with...whatever the hell this is now. When the walkers attacked their camp and killed so many innocent people at the quarry. Killed friends of hers. Somehow Naomi had managed to get up and continue living. She had some idea of how Andrea felt and she understood why the blonde felt the way that she did. Pain did funny things to the mind.

A cool hand slipped into hers and slowly, hesitantly, Naomi pulled her head up to see her comforter. Glenn. He didn't say anything and he didn't have to, he just stared off into the distance, trying to gain distraction from the confronting scene. A small smile peaked at Naomi's mouth but she managed to push it down, her mouth returning into a thin line. While Naomi masked her emotions on the outside, in the inside she knew exactly what or more like who, pulled her up every time she was down.

Andrea continued on after a quick beat of silence, her words aimed to cut deep within Dale. "I'm not your little girl, I'm not your wife and I'm sure as hell not your problem. That's all there is to say," And with that, Andrea spun angrily on her heel and stormed past the on lookers and into the forest with hardly any hesitance, not even sparing a look over her shoulder as she went.

The group moved quickly after her, awkwardly nodding almost guiltily over at Dale before all distractions disappeared and they focused on the only task ahead of them. Finding Sophia. Top priority.

* * *

They had been walking for hours. Trekking through the woods together while simultaneously battling the heat trying to look for a little girl that was lost. And from the hours of searching came no tracks, nothing to indicate that Sophia was even in the woods. She just disappeared. Sweat trailed down Naomi's forehead and neck, drenching the black top that Glenn had leant her, a top that he refused to take back when she had tried. The water had every drip drained from it, bottle warm in her hands as Naomi continued down the path that her father, Shane and Daryl made, Glenn beside her, Carl, Lori, Carol and Andrea trailing behind them.

Hidden in the depths of the trees and shrubbery, lightened by the rays of the high sun, was a single raggedy tent. They stopped to check it out. Cautiously, Daryl and Rick moved forward, gun and crossbow and on standby in case any danger presented itself. The rest of the group hung back, following what Rick had told them. Carol called out to her daughter desperately, hoping that Sophia came. Just the smell of death. It floated from the flaps of the material and choked the two men closest to them though they continued to venture forward just to make sure. No Sophia. Just one that had given up. That had taken his own life. A simple shake of Rick's head brought Carol into another bout of tears; one that was comforted by a deeply sympathetic Lori. Someone that could relate to the mother more than any other.

Further plans of the tip of Rick's tongue never reached the ears of others as the sound of church bells excluded any other logic. Everyone was thinking the exact same thing; that Sophia was the one ringing them to lead them to her. They took off, stumbling in an all but vague direction trying to make it to the church before she stopped ringing.

Reaching a clearing, a church, pristine and white, had everyone drawing in a breath of hope at the prospect of Sophia being there. They continued up to the doors, panting and shouting for Sophia. There, sitting silently in the pews, scattered around different directions, sat people. Four to be exact. A shocked breath left Naomi's mouth as they turned in their gowns and suits and revealed their faces.

Rick, Shane and Daryl ventured forward to take out the threats. Naomi couldn't help but wonder how something that brought about such horror, pain and death could sit so peacefully in a place humbled by the reigns of religion.

"Sophia!" Dary screamed, frustation clear in his voice. He then turned to the large statue of Jesus at the front of the church. "Yo, JC, you taking requests?"

Once again, Sophia didn't appear from the shadows of the church. Shane then frantically began to tell Rick that they had come upon the wrong church but how many more would there be in the middle of a random woods? It was then, straight after the rushed comment, that the bells went off again and they realised the ringing wasn't coming from the church. It was outside.  
Daryl was the first one out of the church, pushing past everyone to take the lead. He rounded the corner and then proceeded to sink to his knees, back resting against the white washed wood and he was clutching an aluminium box that cased a bunch of wires. Naomi's heart sunk in her chest as she realised that the bells were automated. No Sophia. Once again.

"It's on a damn timer," He panted.

Nobody dared to speak another word, each and every one of them tried to figure out what to do next. Carol sighed and turned around, heading back into the church with her arms secured around her stomach protectively. Naomi grabbed her second water bottle out of her bag and took a quick swig from it before she headed back to the church herself to be out of the sun.

There, Naomi Grimes sat, on the stability of the pews, allowing what she had pushed down since Sophia first disappeared to come up. Guilt bubbled in her being. She had been the one with the stupid plan to stick around on the highway. The plan that had led to Sophia and Carl being away from family when danger emerged. They should have left hours before like they had first planned before Naomi stepped in. Turned back and find another way to reach Fort Benning and then they would not be in this horrible mess. Carol would not be sitting a few rows ahead mercilessly praying for the safety of her daughter. Naomi did that. People were in pain because of her actions and thoughts.

"You good Nay?" Rick's voice carried down to Naomi in a whisper. She looked up and simply shook her head even though he knew what the answer was before she even spoke and he held out his hand to her. "Come on."

He let out of the church and to the relative shadiness of the trees so that they could talk in private. But Naomi didn't know what to say.

"Hey I raised you. I know when something is bothering you so you may as well say it now before I force it out of you."

Naomi sighed and scrunched up her nose. "It's my fault."

Rick narrowed his eyes in confusion as he tried to search his daughters face. "What do you mean?"

She sighed again. "It's my fault that Sophia is missing. I shouldn't have pushed to stay longer on the highway and then she would be safe and we would probably be at Fort Benning by now. It was stupid."

"No," He told his daughter firmly. "This is not on you. Not one bit. If you hadn't suggested that we stayed then Shane or I would have. This would have happened regardless."

"But-"

"But what? Can you somehow see into the future to know if the herd was coming?" Naomi shook her head. "Well then, there we go. You couldn't have known that this was going to happen. No one could. And no one blames this on you. This isn't your fault. And hey, we're gonna find Sophia and this gonna be put behind us."

Naomi forced herself to nod with a sniffle and she pushed her sadness and guilt back in order to be strong. Her father smiled slightly at how strong she was acting and placed his hand on her cheek comfortingly. "And for the record," Rick went on. "I thought that what you wanted to do on the highway was smart. It just didn't go exactly how you planned. But guess what, not everything is going to go right. You did good."

She smiled a little. "You think so?"

"I know so. That's the daughter that I want to see," Rick said, motioning to her smile. "I'm gonna round up the others. We should get going soon. Take your time here."

With that, Rick was off to get the rest of the group ready to continue their search for Sophia. Naomi shook her head, trying her hardest to get back into a clear headspace before she went after her father. She met with the rest of the group back out in the sun in front of the church that they were leaving behind and Naomi wen to stand by Glenn as they talked over the plans. She knew that he was looking at her but kept her eyes focused on the discussion.

"Hey Naomi," Glenn's hushed voice called out to her causing her to finally look him in the eyes. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah...I'm alright now. Thanks," Naomi said back genuinely, she then reached out and grabbed his hand in hers and continued to listen in to the conversation.

It was decided that Rick, Shane and Carl (who had begged so hard to go with them) were going to cover more ground up ahead while the rest of them would begin to head back and cover their tracks to make sure that they wouldn't miss anything. Rick then proceeded to hand Lori his colt so that she could help to further keep them safe.

"No Rick I can't take that," Lori told him with wide eyes, shoving his weapons back at him.

Daryl grunted, his hand reaching into the back of his pants and pulling out a small pistol he had taken from the tent. "It's a spare. Take it."

Rick nodded at the hunter gratefully but nobody missed the sour look on Andrea's face at the transfer of weapons. Naomi ignored that and moved over to her little brother pulling him into a hug and telling him to get back in one piece while ruffling his hair. He giggled, yet pushed her away playfully. She then hugged her father and told him to stay safe. She simply sent a nod to Shane in goodbye.

"I'll keep them safe," Shane told Naomi seriously.

"Yeah you better."

They watched as the trio disappeared into the foliage of trees and then set off in the opposite direction. It was silent as they made their way back stumbling over tree roots and sticks. And then Carol started to share her description with the rest of them.

"So this is it," She said, taking a defeated seat on a fallen log. "This is the whole plan?"

Daryl sighed, trying to thin of the quickest way to get them all moving again, turned to face them. "Guess their plan is to whittle us down into smaller and smaller groups."

"Carrying knives and pointy sticks," Andrea pointed out before casting a jealous glance in Lori's direction. "I see you have a gun."

Lori, who was next to Carol on the log looking through her backpack, stopped what she was doing and looked up with an icy glare. "Why? You want it?" She asked, pulling the gun out of the waistband of her jeans and holding it out to the shocked blonde. "Here. Take it. I'm sick of the looks you're giving me," Surprised, Andrea reached forward and took the gun and stepping back.

But Lori wasn't done. When she got fired up, she tended to speak her mind and that was just what she was going to do. "All'a you," She said. "Honey, I can't imagine what you're going through and I would do anything to stop it but you have got to stop blaming Rick. It is in your face every time you look at him. And when Sophia ran he didn't hesitate did he? Not for a second. I don't know that any of us would have gone after her the way he did or made the hard decisions that he had to make or that anybody could have done it any differently. Anybody? Ya'll look to him and then blame him but he's not perfect. If you think you could do this without him go right ahead, nobody is stopping you," Aggravated, Lori took a sip of water and then held it out to Naomi who hesitated. "Nay take it. I know you're thirsty."

She took it, sipping carefully from it and then slipping it back into her mothers bag when she stood up. Wordlessly, the group continued on. The gun was handed back to Lori. And that was when a gunshot rung out.

* * *

Daryl had managed to get Lori moving again after she started ti freak out about what could have caused the shot but that didn't stop the over protective mother nervously looking behind herself constantly as they walked. Her son and husband were out there and she didn't know whether they were safe or even alive. Ahead of her, Naomi was thinking the exact same thing. She had already lost her father once and she didn't know what she would do if he was gone let alone her innocent little brother Carl.

"You still worrying about it?" Andrea asked Lori as they walked.

Lori shook her head, casting another look over her shoulder. "There was a gunshot."

"We all heard it."

Lori stopped and spun around with wide eyes that were filled with fear. "Why one, why just one gunshot?"

"Maybe they took down a walker," Daryl shrugged, even though they knew that it was not the case.

Lori's gare was directed at the hunter. "Please don't patronise me. You know Rick wouldn't waste a gunshot to put down one walker. Or Shane. They'd do it quietly."

"Shouldn't they have caught up with us by now?" Carol asked.

Daryl snorted, "There's nothing we can do about it anyway. Can't run around these woods chasing echoes."

"So what do we do?" Naomi asked, nerves in her tone because she knew that something had gone wrong at that moment and the rest of her family were out there and she had no idea if they were alright.

"Exactly what we've been doing, beat the bush looking for Sophia. Work our way back to the highway."

Andrea stepped up, her attention directed towards Lori. "I'm sure they'll meet us back at the highway," Lori didn't respond, only moved forward, her hand on Naomi's shoulder. Andrea sighed and turned to Carol. "I'm sorry for what you're going through. I know how you feel."

Carol shrugged and looked down at her shoes as she followed path with the others. "I suppose you do. Thank you. The thought of her out there, by herself, it's the not knowing that's what's killing me. I just keep hoping and praying she doesn't wind up like Amy." As soon as those words left her mouth, Carol gasped, slapping a hand over her mouth in surprise. She, herself, was appalled by what she had just said as she looked to the blonde apologetically. "Oh my god that it the worst thing I ever said."

Andrea shook her head, pushing down all of her emotions to look up at Carol. "We're all hoping and praying with you...for what it's worth."

"I'll tell you what it's worth," Daryl interrupted impatiently, tired of waiting around. "Not a damn thing. It's a waste of time all this hoping and praying. We're gonna locate that 'lil girl and she's gonna be just fine. Am I the only one zen around here? Good lord."

With that he took off, not giving them anymore chances to stop as they had to follow him to get back to the highway. And so they went. On and on silently in a line until most were beginning to become restless and agitated, slowing down also as they retraced their steps. Naomi was getting increasingly worried about what had happened and what was going to happen. The longer that she had time to reflect on the gunshot, the larger the list that was full of negatives got, the more nervous about the outcomes Naomi became.  
From her position at the front of the line, Naomi only seemed to notice to absence of Andrea when she screamed. So did the rest of them. They turned in the direction of the screaming, running to her and expecting some sort of a fight. Andrea had been overpowered by a stray walker and was trying to keep it from taking a bite out of her.

Pressure running high, Daryl rushed forward only to be stalled by the sounds of a horse galloping towards them. The brunette steering the horse held up a baseball bat and with a huge swing, knocked the walker off Andrea and then came to rest next to the surprised people. Her eyes frantically searched the crowd, looking for someone and they landed on Andrea who was only just pushing herself up from the ground.

"Lori? Lori Grimes?"

Lori sent a nervous yet confused glance to Naomi before she stepped closer to the girl. "I'm Lori."

"Rick sent me you gotta come now."

"What?"

"There's been an accident. Carl's been shot," A gasp left Naomi's lips as she heard the news and her hand flew up to her mouth. The brunette's eyes flickered to hers apologetically though she knew that she had to continue on. "He's still alive but you gotta come now."

Lori wasted no time in taking of her backpack and shoving it inset Naomi and Naomi grabbed her mother's arms to stop her from making any irrational decisions. "What about me mum? What do I do?"

"You go back to camp and then come to us," Lori said, taking the gun and pressing it into her daughter's hands. "Stay safe."

The lady on the horse then managed to tell them where to go, though Naomi didn't understand a word that she said as she looked down at the extra weight in her hands. Glenn and taken the bag from her grasp but it had done virtually nothing to lessen the weight. She watched, with a heavy heart as her mother and the lady took off and waited until they were out of sight before she started walking in the direction of the highway with a renewed energy.

* * *

Carl's been shot.

Carl's been shot.

Carl's been shot.

"Shot?" Dale had asked as the group as they finally got back up to the highway to Dale and T-Dog. "What do you mean shot?" His eyes flickered to Naomi who was getting helped over the guardrail by Glenn but she didn't answer. Naomi was stuck in her own thoughts.

Carl's been shot.

Carl's been shot.

Carl's been shot.

Glenn answered for her, though his gaze never left her face. "All I know it that this chick rode out of nowhere like Zorro on a horse and took Lori."

Carl's been shot.

Glenn's hand slipped onto her back but Naomi made to no move to show any emotion. The girl was pale and hands shaking and Glenn knew that she was barely holding it together. The gun was still in her hands and her fingers clenched and unclenched against the weapon as if getting a feel for it.

Carl's been shot.

"And you let her?"

Carl's been shot.

Daryl huffed as he walked forward. "Climb down outta my arse old man. Rick sent her. She knew Lori's name and Carl's name."

Naomi's stomach twisted with a feeling that she couldn't describe. He was hurt. Her baby brother's life was in danger and she was just standing them. As if acting upon muscle memory, Naomi bent forward, gun released from her hand and clattered heavily on the ground behind her, her hands then planted firmly on her knees. The little food that she had consumed in the last twenty four hours had made its appearance. Naomi groaned at the feeling and Glenn's hand on her back was the only thing that was keeping her standing. Small, soothing circles over her shirt settles her slightly but did nothing to numb the thoughts rushing through her mind.

Another person touched her arm lightly, the comforting motherly presence that she needed from her mother was found in Carol during that moment. "C'mob honey," She spoke softly into the shaking girls ringing ears. "Let's get you cleaned up."

Carol shot a reassuring look to the rest of the group watching on, her gaze lingering longest on Glenn who looked absolutely shattered for his best friend as she led Naomi away to the RV. They took the steps one at a time carefully, Carol's arm around her shoulders, just like she would embrace her Sophia when the little girl was upset. She helped Naomi sit as she skilfully wet and placed a rag on her face to cool her down. The girl was obviously having trouble fully processing what was going on.

"Carl's been shot," Naomi whimpered out to Carol who just nodded sympathetically. "He's hurt...oh he's been shot."

Instantly Carol was next to her to calm her down and whispering sadly into her ear as Naomi shook. "It's alright honey. Everything is gonna be alright. Carl is going to be just fine and my Sophia will come back safe and sound. I promise you that everything is going to be okay."

But despite the words delivered from her mouth were full of sheer determination, Carol couldn't help but feel as though being okay was going to be far from the truth in this case.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

Naomi Grimes sat in an almost unresponsive state on the front seats of the RV for the rest of the afternoon. Though who could honestly blame her. The remainder of the group refused to let her leave the highway until they had a plan or some bullshit but she was honestly over it. She needed to go and reunite with her family, to be with her brother if he was even still alive at that point and they were robbing her unrightfully of that choice. Meanwhile T-Dog was beginning to hallucinate due to the pain of the cut on his arm that had swollen and inflated since the last time she saw him. It was the beginning of blood poisoning and he could potentially die without proper medical attention and they were also stalling hi of that chance when he could be getting help for it.

Angered, she stood from her seat and shuffled restlessly to the door. Their hushed voices carried through the air to her ears while Naomi couldn't quite hear what they were saying, she just knew that they were talking about her. She paused at the door when the bag in the peripheral of her vision caught her eye and a reckless plan sprung into her mind.

She creeped over to the gun bag that sat on the bench and quietly pulled the bag open. The gun that she had previously had was either still on the ground where she had dropped it or in someone else's hands and Naomi required a new one. She tested the weight of a few handguns in her palms before choosing the lightest and smallest one. It was loaded with a few bullets; not much, but enough to do some damage. Closing the bag, Naomi's fingers lingered on the logo that belonged to the Sheriffs County, that was part of the family a second, before she tucked the gun into the back of her pants, the bump hidden by her shirt. Naomi prepared herself to fight for her family.

The bitumen thumped under her feet as she exited the RV and moved over to the rest of the people. Her eyes were red and puffy but her expression was determined as she cut off any previous conversations to talk.

"I have to go," She held up a hand to Carol and continued on. "Carol... you need to stay here for your daughter and I'm sorry that I can't do anything else to help but my brother is out there shot so that's where I have to be. I can't wait another second here. I would never forgive myself if he died and I wasn't there."

Carol nodded in understanding, hand reaching out to rest on Naomi's shoulder as Glenn moved to stand beside her also.

Daryl nodded thoughtfully, chewing on his lip. "Okay. We've gotta plan for this. I say tomorrow morning is when we start to pull up the stakes. Give us a chance to rig up a big sign, leave her some supplies. I'll hold her tonight, stay with the RV."

"If the RV is staying I am too," Dale added in while casting a weary glance at Naomi.

Carol, who was close to tears again, looked gratefully at the two men. "Thank you," She breathed. "Thank you both."

"I'm in," Andrea agreed, hands up with a small smile gracing her lips.

Glenn looked conflicted. Obviously he wanted to help and support Carol as much as he possibly could but he would feel so awful if he chose to stay and something happened with Carl. He couldn't imagine not being there for support for his best friend. So in the end, Dale made the right decision for him.

"Not you Glenn. You're going. Take Carol's cherokee," Dale looked to the impatient Naomi. "You too Naomi. You have to find this farm, re-connect with our people and see what's going on. And also, you have to get T-Dog there. This is not an option. That cut has gone from bad to worse, a very serious blood infection. Get him to that farm...see if they have any antibiotics because if not...T-Dog will die. No joke."

Daryl moved to his bike, flinging a rag off the handlebar and at Dale who caught it. "Keep your oily rags off my brothers bike." He berated before moving a clear bag full of drugs and prescription bottle on the hood of a car closest to him. His hands began rummaging through the bottles.

"Why'd you wait 'til now to say anything? Got my brothers stash. Crystal X...don't need that. Got some kiss arse painkillers," He said, tossing an orange bottle to Naomi to which she starred down at it in surprise. "Oxcycline," Another orange bottle was thrown to her. "Ain;t that generic shit either. It's first class. Merle got the clap on occasion."

Naomi groaned in disgust, handling the bottles more carefully. "Far too much information," She complained before walking over to Carol's car, slipping into the passenger seat. Glenn knew where they needed to go and she was honestly in no state to drive.

T-Dog followed after her and moved into the backseat but Glenn was held back by Dale.

"Keep Naomi safe," The older man said simply.

Glenn furrowed his eyebrows as he did not have any idea what to do in the current situation. "I don't know what to do."

"And she doesn't expect you to son. She doesn't either and she is freaking out. All that you need to do is be there and support her. That's all she needs from you right now," Glenn nodded, slightly relieved by Dale's wise words. "And keep her safe. Make sure she doesn't do anything rash."

"Okay...yeah I can do that," Glenn nodded once again and joined the others. He slipped into the drivers seat and sped off, wanting to get them there quickly.

As it turned out, Glenn wasn't too good with recalling the rather vague directions and they found themselves circling around a few times just to gather their bearings. Naomi was agitated to no end as she needed to get to her brother and this was slowing the whole process down. He couldn't help but feel guilty for the timing. It was such a miracle to see the letterbox with the name "Greene" printed on it and they raced down the driveway quickly, eager to get inside of the large white farmhouse that stood before them.

Naomi quickly pulled off her seatbelt, yet despite her need to be by her family she found herself frozen in her seat. She was too nervous to move. T-Dog slid out of the car and into the darkness of the night. Glenn looked over to her figure with sad eyes, noticing the way that her fingers clenched around the door handle in anticipation. He took her free hand for a couple of seconds to draw her attention to him. He tried to smile comfortingly though it didn't work.

"You've got this Naomi," He told her in a soft voice just above a whisper. "You can go in there. You can do it."

Naomi let out an uneven breath and nodded before popping the door open and stepping out on shaky legs. The trio walked quickly in the dark and up the stairs onto the spacey balcony. Naomi paused at the door with the rest of them. A huge part of her just wanted to storm in there and get the whole greeting thing over and done with but another part of her was certain that going that wouldn't have helped at all.

Glenn cleared his throat as he looked over at the door. "So do we ring the bell I mean, looks like people live here," He said, looking over at Naomi and T-Dog.

"We're past this kind of stuff aren't we," T-Dog ground out, moving closer to the door while pulling the blanket further around his shoulders.

Before he could pull the door open and lead the way inside, a voice called out from behind them.

"You close the gate up the road when you drove in?"

The lady from earlier made her way up to them, arms crossed over her chest as her eyes roamed over the new arrivals and they softened as they reached Naomi. She couldn't imagine the pain of finding out that a sibling was hurt.

Glenn was shocked and embarrassed that he didn't notice the lady sooner and began to stutter out incoherent words until Naomi elbowed to shut him up, clearly impatient, before uttering out the answer herself. "Yeah we closed it. Did the latch and everything. Nice to see you again and all but if you could kindly show me to where my brother it that would be greatly appreciated."

The lady nodded in understanding and slid past them to open the door. "Of course I will. I'll make ya'll something to eat...take a look at that cut on your arm too," She said, motioning down to T-Dog's arm before letting them inside. "Come on in."

"We have uh, some painkillers and antibiotics," Glenn said as they followed her inside, shaking the bottles in his hand for effect. "We already gave him some and if Carl needs any."

The brunette smiled at him appreciatively and took the bottles out of his hands. "Thank you. I'm sure they'll be a great help."

She led them into a rather clean living room area and muttered something to a young blonde who nodded and rushed off up the stairs. Down a hallway, the four came to a stop in front of a room with the door open. The room where Carl was in, resting almost peacefully in the bed. But he was so, so pale and a stray tear slipped down Naomi's cheek as she rushed forwards towards her parents who had both stood up at their daughters presence. They reached towards her as she entered and she fell into their protective grips, eyes trained on her brother. Carl was almost whiter than the sheets he lay on, bandage covering his lower stomach. An old man had a blood pressure pump around Carl's limp arm and was reading the information off of it, he barely looked up as they entered. Why did it have to be her brother? He was in pain and there was nothing that Naomi could do to stop it and make it better.

"Hey," Glenn greeted, respectfully taking off his cap and holding it between her fidgeting hands.

"Hi," Rick replied, exhaustion clear in his voice as he ran one hand over his daughters hair and clenched his sons hand with his other.

"Uh...we-we're here okay?" Glenn said, forcing himself to stop staring at Naomi' hunched form and over at the rest of her family with a nod of his head.

"Thank you," Lori said, answering for the family.

T-Dog nodded. "Whatever you need," He reinforced before he, Glenn and the other lady walked out to give the family some privacy and so T-Dog could get treatment that he needed for his arm.

Naomi tore her faze from her little brother and nodded over to Glenn as he turned to leave. he was always there for her and it was times like that when Naomi really needed it that she appreciated it most.  
As soon as they left, the man tending to Carl, pulled the machine off with a scowl, settling it down on the bedside table before gently pushing the sheet down further over Carl's stomach to reveal a painful amount of swelling and bruising just underneath the bandage. Naomi gasped at the view and buried her face into her mothers shoulder as she cried for the survival of Carl. It killed her to see Carl in such a painful state...what she wouldn't do to take that pain away. it was unbearable for her to even look on. Lori soothed Naomi gently as well. She was a mother and at that moment both of her children were in pain.

"They don't get back soon then you're gonna have a decision to make," The man said and Naomi looked between her people in confusion. She honestly had no idea what the decision was.

Lori leaned forward in her seat and explained all that was going on to Naomi. How the farmer and vet needed to perform surgery on Carl to remove the many bullet fragments from his abdomen and therefore save his life . How he had none of the medical equipment and the fact that Carl was in need of the equipment soon or else he wouldn't survive and that Shane and Otis had yet to return from their search for it.

"And that is?" Rick asked after Lori finished the explanation.

Hershel sighed as he went on to deliver the news. "Operate on your boy without the respirator."

"You said that wouldn't work."

"I don't know, it's extremely unlikely but we can't wait much longer," As soon as the sentence was finished, Lori was up and out the door, hand clamped over her mouth and Naomi was right behind her as well.

It was almost as if Naomi was running on automatic. As if she had cried so many tears that she wasn't able to produce anymore. She couldn't help but welcome the numbing sensation that ran through her whole body. She returned to the main living room to see an older blonde and the brunette prepping T-Dog before they stitched up his wound.

A frown overtook Glenn's lips as he saw Naomi at the door and he somehow managed to coax her out to the balcony sot hat she could breath in the fresher air and talk if she wanted to. She just looked out at the darkness while trying to gather her thoughts but he stayed right by her side. Her brother was dying because some arsehole shot him and Naomi wished for nothing but to do the same to the person. To put them through the horrific pain. The gun was still in place in her jeans and she realised that she was angry enough to seek revenge against that arsehole. As if automatically, her hand reached behind her and grabbed at the weapon. Glenn followed her actions and his eyes widened as he saw the gun. He knew that nothing good could come from that.

"Whoa, whoa. Naomi why do you have that?"

Naomi looked up at him, her eyes darker than he had ever seen them and it startled him somewhat as he was even more clueless in that situation. "They have to pay," She told him, trying to keep her voice hard but there was a tick in it that gave him room to assume that she wanted to be talked out of it.

"Look I think that they would be paying now. I seriously doubt anyone would purposely shoot a kid. You don't have to make anyone pay okay?"

"They hurt my little brother. He's in there dying!" Her voice cracked and she shook her head. Her emotions were returning again. It seemed as if she hadn't been all cried out.

"I know."

"He's hurt-"

"I know."

"He's so innocent. He's never hurt anything ever. Why does he have to go through all of this?!"

"I know. I know Naomi. It's shitty...so shitty but we can't do a damn thing to change it."

Naomi opened her mouth and then lifted the gun up slightly higher.

"You don't want to do that. Hey, I know you and I know that you would never do anything to hurt anyone. You're in pain, I get that but you do not want to do that," Glenn held out his hand and tried not to focus on the way that it shook. "Give me that gun. It's alright. You don't have to do this. Give me the gun."

Slowly, hesitantly, Naomi dropped the gun into Glenn's outstretched palm. As soon as the weight was gone, it was like she slipped out of a trance and realised what she was going to do. While Glenn bent to hide the gun in his bag, Naomi gasped in horror. She was so guilty. Why had she done that? Who was she?

"I-I-I...I'm so, so sorry Glenn. I have no idea what came over me. Why would I want to do that? I mean obviously I know why I wanted to do that but-"

Her rambling was cut short in shock as he tentatively placed his hand on her cheek and tilted her head so that could see him. "It's alright. I get it. But it's gonna be alright. I know that it doesn't seem like it now but it will be. Whatever happen you can through this."

Naomi closed her eyes and nodded, leaning into his touch further as his fingers gently stroked over her freckles. After a few long seconds he pulled back and cleared his throat, pointing inside. "We should probably get back. You know, before the send out their search parties."

A thin smile poked at her lips and before she could even think, she had moved forward and planted a small kiss on his cheek. "Thank you," She whispered before crossing her arms over her chest and making her way back to her brother's bedside.

Glenn stood and watched her go in shock. His left hand reached up and touched the place where her lips were before shaking his head. There was no way that she thought of him the way that he thought of her.

As soon as he was back inside, the older blonde Patricia started talking, directing her attention o him which made him feel even more awkward.

"You sure are lucky you got here when you did. I don't think you could have waited much longer," She said, pulling the thread through on the first stitch. T-Dog grunted in pain and looked up at the ceiling. "Merle Dixon," She said, reading the prescription off of one of the drug bottles. "Is that you're friend with the antibiotics?"

"No m'am. Merle's no longer with us. Daryl gave us those, his brother."

"Not sure I'd call him a friend," T-Dog said, remembering his past experiences with the man bitterly.

"He is today. His meds might of just saved your life. You know what Merle was taking it for?"

"Clap," Glenn then cringed at his use of words and tried his hardest to correct himself though it just came out a huge awkward mess. "Um...Venereal Disease. That's what Daryl said."

Patricia smirked. "Well Merle's clap is the best thing that ever happened to you."

"Look I'm really trying not to think about hat," T-Dog ground out.

Glenn sighed and grabbed the cup of tea for him off of the table, his bag and then proceeded to head back outside. He salvaged the cool air on his skin as he took the time to think. Specifically about Naomi. He was lost on things to do to make her feel better and it was clear as day that she was struggling with quite a few things. Maybe he would pray to ask for help. He had never done it before and honestly didn't hold much hope but for Naomi, he'd try anything. He placed the empty cup by his feet as he sat on the rocking chair and tried not to focus on the gun by his feet as he sat on the rocking chair and tried not to focus on the gun by his feet and what that meant. Glenn closed his eyes and began to pray. He didn't get far as a voice called out and made him open his eyes and look up.

"You praying?" She asked, leaning against one of the bannisters that supported the house with a smile.

"Why do you sneak up on people so much?" Glenn asked the farmers daughter clearly irritated as he ran a hand over his eyes.

She shrugged. "'Cos you're easy to sneak up on. Same with Naomi."

He sighed. "I was praying. Was trying to."

"You religious? You pray a lot?"

"Actually uh...this is my first try."

"Ever?" She asked, eyes wide in surprise. She had practically grown up raised on the bible and faith. Church every Sunday and verses of the bible being used as house rules and expectations. Most were around those parts and so it was interesting to speak to someone who had never even spoken a simple prayer before. "Wow sorry. I didn't mean to break your first time/"

Glenn shrugged. "God probably got the gist."

"Praying for what?"

Naomi. "Friends," He said quickly. "...Looks like they could al use a little help. You think God exists?"

It was her turn to shrug. "I always took it on faith. Lately I've wondered. Everything that's happened, there must have been a lot praying going on and seems quite a few went unanswered."

"Thanks," He said sarcastically. "That's really helping."

"Sorry. Go ahead. Really," She said but continued to stand looking at him.

He sighed. "You gonna watch me?"

She walked over and grabbed his sup. "I'll get you a refill instead," She said and then paused at the door to add in some advice as it looks like he needed it. "I know it's not my business, and feel free to believe in God but the thing is you gotta make okay somehow no matter what happens. You can't send a prayer to God and hope that that Naomi girl and her whole family will be alright," She explained before going inside and leaving Glenn to his thoughts.

Naomi appeared a short time later, still feeling guilty about her actions and having a hard time looking at him. She stared at her hands and began to explain everything to him. She told him how Carl got shot and the danger of him not making it through the surgery if Shane didn't get back with the medical equipment. And Glenn just listened. And suddenly he understood her to a deeper level. He stood, pushing her into his chair and bringing another one over next to her. If she was surprised she never showed it as he turned to face her.

"Thank you," He started and that earned him a surprised look. "For telling me that," Glenn then took a deep breath and then willed himself to open up to her about his family. "You know that I had two older sisters right?"

Naomi nodded, although she was confused as to where the conversation was heading. Glenn rarely mentioned his family as it was obviously a sore topic for him so Naomi never really asked.

"Yeah and they were always so protective over me. Whenever kids at school used to make fun of me because I'm nerdy and obsessed with almost any video game they would be there, telling the kids to back off and leave me alone. There was never a time that they didn't stand up for me. I don't know if they're alive or dead or...turned," Glenn admitted the last part with a swallow and Naomi reached out and took his hand. "Anyway, what I was trying to say is that you do the same thing for Carl. Protect him, stand up for him. I get why you wanted to do that. To hurt them for hurting him...because I think that my sisters would have done the same for me."

He had made her cry. Again. Trapped into some deep part of her and brought out even more emotion. It was so personal. The door opened and out stepped the farmers daughter holding two cups this time. Naomi scrambled to hide her tears, wiping at them with her hands but she didn't mind only held out the cup for Naomi to take gently.

"Thank you," Naomi said gratefully as she clutched the warm cup and she indicated at her to say her name.

"I'm Maggie," She said, handing Glenn the other cup.

"Naomi."

Glenn cleared his throat. "I'm Glenn."

"Thank you Maggie. For everything," Naomi said sincerely.

"It's fine. I'm sorry about your brother, I couldn't imagine what that would feel like," Naomi nodded in thanks before Maggie went on. "Apparently your parents chose to operate without a respirator."

Naomi nodded as she knew that it was probably going to happen. It didn't seem as if Shane was returning any time soon and they needed to do something. It was just down to a waiting game to ensure Carl's health.

"I know."

"I'd stay out here until it's over. I can make you something to eat while you wait."

"That'd be good thanks," Glenn answered with a small smile.

As soon as Maggie turned to go back inside, a miracle happened. Shane pulled up in front of the house. He was back just in time. A grin broke out on Naomi Grimes' face as she stood and rushed down the steps to greet him. He had come back. She had to admit that he looked like shit and was carrying himself with a limp but was okay and he had brought back the things that he needed.

"Otis?" Hershel asked from the steps and sighed in sorrow as Otis didn't make it back. "Nobody tell Patricia, we need her for the surgery."

And with that, everyone sprung back into action.

The surgery was actually quite a quick procedure that Carl got through. The boy lay, still unconscious in the bed and still in pain but Hershel said that he was going to be alright. He had made it through the worst and the only thing in his path now was recovery.  
Naomi, ever the big sister, sat by his bed on the floor, blanket around her shoulders, watching her brother sleep. Lori and Rick had passed out in the chairs behind them. Cautiously, Naomi closed her left eye and then her right and allowed herself to drift off to sleep.


End file.
